The Green Revolution, based on high-yielding dwarf wheat varieties, originated in which country?

The Green Revolution began in Mexico in the 1940s and 1950s, through a wheat improvement programme supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Mexican government. The American plant scientist Norman Borlaug led this work and is known as the "Father of the Green Revolution".

How it began in Mexico:

• In 1943-44, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Mexican government set up a cooperative programme to improve Mexican agriculture.
• Borlaug joined in 1944 and spent years breeding wheat varieties resistant to stem rust, a serious fungal disease.

He crossed Mexican wheat with a Japanese dwarf variety (Norin 10), creating semi-dwarf, high-yielding wheat varieties. Their short, strong stems could carry heavy grain heads without falling over (lodging) when given fertiliser and irrigation.

He also developed "shuttle breeding", growing two generations a year at two different locations in Mexico, which sped up the breeding process.

By the mid-1950s, Mexico had become self-sufficient in wheat.

CIMMYT:

The programme later became the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), established in 1966 near Mexico City.

Borlaug's honours:

• He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his contribution to increasing world food supply and reducing hunger.
• He is credited with saving hundreds of millions of people from starvation.

Spread of the Green Revolution:

• In the 1960s, the Mexican wheat varieties were taken to South Asia and other regions facing food shortages.
• The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), set up in 1960 at Los Banos in the Philippines, developed IR8, a high-yielding "miracle rice" released in 1966.
• The term "Green Revolution" was coined by William Gaud of USAID.

Key components of the Green Revolution:

• High-yielding variety (HYV) seeds.
• Chemical fertilisers.
• Irrigation (especially tubewells).
• Pesticides and farm machinery.

Criticism:

It increased regional inequality and led to overuse of water and chemicals.

Why not the other options?

• ✗India received the new wheat varieties later; it was not the place of origin.
• ✗The Philippines is home to IRRI, which developed high-yielding rice varieties later.
• ✗The United States provided scientists and funding, but the programme took place in Mexico.