Green Revolution India India Green Revolution | Page 8

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contributed to raising rural income and alleviating poverty . The real wages of agricultural laborers in India had started to rise and also rural poverty started to decline for the first time in the long history of the country .

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Figure 6 Net Irrigated Area by Source of Irrigation in India Source . Until 1990 / 91 : Water and Related Statistics 1994 , Statistics Directorate , Irrigation Management Organization , Central Water Commission , p . 81 , Regarding the year 1995 / 95 , Fertilizer statistics 1998 / 99 .

If we look at the indicator of per capita per day calorie intake by the data of FAO ( FAO , 1995 ), both South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa were almost at the same level at 2100 calorie / day until the late 1970s , but after the 1980s whereas Sub-Saharan Africa stagnated at the same level , South Asia began to rise continuously to the level of approximately 2300 calorie / day by the end of the 1980s ( Figure 7 ). Therefore , it can be stressed here that the 1980s was the critical period for South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa to make a great divergence in the economic development thereafter .

Lastly , it should be noted that in India not only rice and wheat increased their yield levels dramatically during the period of the Green Revolution ( Figure 4 , Figure 5 ), but also coarse cereals accomplished a continuous and substantial increase of their yield ( Figure 8 ). According to Figure 8 , the average yield of coarse cereals increased from less than 500 kg / ha in the 1950s to more than 1000 kg / ha in recent years , although sown area experienced a rapid decrease from the beginning of the 1970s due to the continuous decline of demand for human consumption . At present , as indicated in Figure 9 , although demand for coarse cereals for human consumption became minimal except some spots ( rural and urban Karnataka , rural Maharashtra , rural Gujarat and rural Rajasthan ), demand for animal feed is increasing , especially in the case of maize and jowar ( sorghum ).