Question

What are the adverse effects of using high yielding varieties of seeds?

Answer 1

Hint: High yielding varieties of seeds are those seeds that produce huge quantities of crops particularly wheat and rice. The regular supply of water, maximum use of fertilizers, and the use of pesticides in an accurate proportion are needed to use these seeds. Financial resources to purchase the fertilizers and pesticides and to install the required irrigation facilities are needed by farmers to take full advantage of the high yielding variety seeds.

Complete answer:The population of India in the world is around 17.5% and it has a land area of only 2.4%. To feed the entire population there is a need to develop and grow very high-yielding crops. In the mid-1960s food production in India increased due to the introduction of plant breeding techniques. High yielding new varieties of cereals along with improved agriculture methods like the use of fertilizers, irrigation & pesticides brought a many-fold increase in food grain production. This breakthrough in agriculture was known as the Green Revolution.
-Norman E. Borlaug who is also known as the father of the green revolution develop a semi-dwarf variety of wheat in Mexico. He received the Nobel peace prize in 1970 for his contribution to humankind in the field of agriculture. Later Indian great Dr. Swami Nathan and his team crossbred Indian varieties of wheat with these Mexican semi-dwarf varieties to produce Indian semidwarf varieties like Sonalika & Kalyan Sona. In 1963, these high yielding and disease-resistant varieties were introduced all over the wheat-growing belt of India. Due to this production of wheat in India increased from 11 million tonnes to 86million tonnes during the period 1963 to 2011.
-Various adverse effects of using a high yielding variety of seeds are-
1. Lower water table-
A good amount of water is required for better yield of high yield variety seeds. Good and proper irrigation facilities in an area increase infrastructure expenses. In India extended use of water after the employment of high yielding variety seeds on the unsuitable land has lowered the water table in the northern region. The salinity of soil further increased the problems regarding the poor growth of new crops on the same land.
2.Health Issues
High yield variety of crops require huge fertilizers and pesticide usage. The extended usage of chemicals has increased the risk of various health hazards.
3. Others
An outcome of the high yielding crop is salinity and infertility of soil. The high yielding varieties of the crop also produce less amount of fodder as compared to traditional crops. These results put an extra burden on the farmers whose only source of income is farmland.

Note: Countries in the mid-sixties brought the high yielding variety seeds to their farming sector to achieve food security, hunger eradication, malnutrition elimination, and better incomes and profit.