The widespread aspect of Globalisation of agriculture is the entry of multinationals into this sector as sellers of agricultural inputs such as seeds, pesticides and fertilisers. Over the last decade or so, the Govt. has scaled down its agricultural development programmes, and agricultural extension agents have been replaced in the villages by agents of seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides companies. These agents are often the sole source of information for farmers about new seeds or cultivation practices with of course interest in selling their product. This increased dependence of farmers on expensive fertilisers and pesticides, which has reduced their profits and put many farmers into debt and created ecological crisis in rural areas.

Due to these economic and ecological crisis the spate of farmer's suicide have been occurring in different parts of the country since 1997-98. These suicides can be linked to changes in economic and agricultural policies. These include : the changed pattern of landholdings, changing crop patterns, shift to cash crops, liberalization policies that have exposed Indian agriculture to the forces of Globalisation; heavy dependence on high-costs inputs and individualisation of agricultural operations. According to official statistics, there have been 8,900 suicides by farmers between 2001 and 2006 in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra.

Green revolution was not a great success widely because :

(1) It was targeted only at wheat and rice producing areas

(2) The farmers did not know the use of technology

(3) Lot of money was required

(4) Local governing bodies didn't cooperate

1

The correct answer is Option 1: It was targeted only at wheat and rice producing areas

The Green Revolution primarily focused on increasing the yields of wheat and rice through the introduction of high-yielding varieties (HYVs), irrigation, and chemical fertilizers. This narrow focus on specific crops and regions meant that other crops and areas did not benefit equally from the Green Revolution technologies. As a result, disparities in agricultural development persisted or worsened in regions where crops other than wheat and rice were predominant.

Note For this question, option 3 i.e. 'Lot of money was required' can also be the correct answer. In most of the Green Revolution areas, it was primarily the medium and large farmers who were able to benefit from the new technology. This was because inputs were expensive, and small and marginal farmers could not afford to spend as much as large farmers to purchase these inputs. However, since we have to choose one answer, the most appropriate answer is Option 1. This was also the ANSWER GIVEN BY NTA.