Environmental Systems and Societies · Case studies
ECS.10 — The Green Revolution (Punjab, India)
Environmental Systems and Societies · SL / HL · syllabus-mapped notes
Overview
How high-yielding crops, irrigation and agrochemicals turned Punjab into India's breadbasket, and averted famine at a lasting environmental cost.
Systems and sustainability angle
An intensive agricultural system: high inputs bought high yields, but at the expense of soil, water and long-term sustainability.
Management and response
The high-yielding-variety package and price support, weighed against groundwater depletion, salinization and debt.
HL lens angle
The economics of intensification: subsidies, uncosted externalities and unequal winners.