IsisCB Explore

Article ID: CBB001422121

Wide Adaptation of Green Revolution Wheat: International Roots and the Indian Context of a New Plant Breeding Ideal, 1960--1970 (2015)

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Volume: 50
Pages: 41-50
Publication date: 2015
Language: English

DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsc.2015.01.004

Publication Date: 2015
Edition Details: Article in a special section: “Contexts and Concepts of Adaptability and Plasticity in 20th-century Plant Science”

Outside Links

WorldCat

Google Scholar

JSTOR

Plants Green revolution Fertilizers Grain crops; Cereals; Grasses Economic botany; plant cultivation; horticulture Farmers 20th century India Borlaug, Norman Ernest

Indian wheat cultivation changed radically in the 1960s due to new technologies and policy reforms introduced during the Green Revolution, and farmers' adoption of `packages' of modern seeds, fertilizer, and irrigation. Just prior to the Green Revolution, Indian scientists adopted a new plant breeding philosophy---that varieties should have as wide an adaptation as possible, meaning high and stable yields across different environments. But scientists also argued that wide adaptation could be achieved by selecting only plants that did well in high fertility and irrigated environments. Scientists claimed that widely adapted varieties still produce high yields in marginal areas. Many people have criticized the Green Revolution for its unequal spread of benefits, but none of these critiques address wide adaptation---the core tenant held by Indian agricultural scientists to justify their focus on highly productive land while ignoring marginal or rainfed agriculture. This paper also describes Norman Borlaug's and the Rockefeller Foundation's research program in wide adaptation, Borlaug's involvement in the Indian wheat program, and internal debates about wide adaptation and selection under ideal conditions among Indian scientists. It argues that scientists leveraged the concept of wide adaptation to justify a particular regime of research focused on high production agriculture.

...More

Included in

Article Baranski, Marci; Peirson, B. R. Erick (2015) Introduction: Contexts and Concepts of Adaptability and Plasticity in 20th-Century Plant Science. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (pp. 26-28). unapi

Citation URI

data.isiscb.org/p/isis/citation/CBB001422121

This citation is part of the Isis database.

Citations Indexes

Similar Citations

Article Uekōtter, Frank; (2014)
Why Panaceas Work: Recasting Science, Knowledge, and Fertilizer Interests in German Agriculture (/p/isis/citation/CBB001320830/)

Book Marci Baranski; (2019)
Globalizing Wheat: Success and Failure of the Green Revolution (/p/isis/citation/CBB650890415/)

Thesis Marci Baranski; (2015)
The Wide Adaptation of Green Revolution Wheat (/p/isis/citation/CBB084124000/)

Book Bromyard & District Local History Society, ; (2007)
A Pocketful of Hops: Hop Growing in the Bromyard Area (/p/isis/citation/CBB001201103/)

Book Charles C. Mann; (2018)
The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow's World (/p/isis/citation/CBB498952584/)

Chapter Weber, Steven A.; (2003)
Archaeobotany at Harappa: Indications for Change (/p/isis/citation/CBB001422466/)

Chapter Reddy, Seetha N.; (2003)
Food and Fodder: Plant Usage and Changing Sociocultural Landscapes during the Harappan Phase in Gujarat, India (/p/isis/citation/CBB001422469/)

Book Marci Baranski; (2022)
The Globalization of Wheat: A Critical History of the Green Revolution (/p/isis/citation/CBB031473898/)

Article Carey, David, Jr.; (2009)
Guatemala's Green Revolution: Synthetic Fertilizer, Public Health, and Economic Autonomy in the Mayan Highland (/p/isis/citation/CBB001020838/)

Article Gabriela Soto Laveaga; (2022)
Rogue Seeds in Disturbed Fields (/p/isis/citation/CBB467097261/)

Article Harwood, Jonathan; (2009)
Peasant Friendly Plant Breeding and the Early Years of the Green Revolution in Mexico (/p/isis/citation/CBB001020839/)

Book Jim Elser; Phil Haygarth; (2020)
Phosphorus: Past and Future (/p/isis/citation/CBB000390480/)

Article Melillo, Edward D.; (2012)
The First Green Revolution: Debt Peonage and the Making of the Nitrogen Fertilizer Trade, 1840--1930 (/p/isis/citation/CBB001212444/)

Thesis William San Martin; (2017)
Nitrogen Revolutions: Agricultural Expertise, Technology, and Policy in Cold War Chile (/p/isis/citation/CBB638294249/)

Book Mitchell, Don; (2012)
They Saved the Crops: Labor, Landscape, and the Struggle over Industrial Farming in Bracero-Era California (/p/isis/citation/CBB001421811/)

Article Hahn, Barbara; Saraiva, Tiago; Rhode, Paul; Coclanis, Peter A.; Strom, Claire; (2014)
Does Crop Determine Culture? (/p/isis/citation/CBB001421777/)

Article Dommann, Monika; (2014)
Bühnen des Kapitalismus: Der Getreidehandel als Wissensobjekt zwischen den Weltkriegen (/p/isis/citation/CBB001420732/)

Book Swindell, Ken; Jeng, Alieu; (2006)
Migrants, Credit and Climate: The Gambian Groundnut Trade, 1834--1934 (/p/isis/citation/CBB001422392/)

Article Prodöhl, Ines; (2013)
Versatile and Cheap: A Global History of Soy in the First Half of the Twentieth Century (/p/isis/citation/CBB001421542/)

Book Hoyle, R W; (2013)
The Farmer in England, 1650--1980 (/p/isis/citation/CBB001422268/)