Indian Agricultural: Growth, Generation, Policy & Problem Indian Agricultural | Page 30

Pg.no. 29
Malthusian criticism
Some criticisms generally involve some variation of the Malthusian principle of population. Such
concerns often revolve around the idea that the Green Revolution is unsustainable, and argue that
humanity is now in a state of overpopulation or overshoot with regards to the sustainable carrying
capacity and ecological demands on the Earth.
Although 36 million people die each year as a direct or indirect result of hunger and poor nutrition,
Malthus's more extreme predictions have frequently failed to materialize. In 1798 Thomas Malthus
made his prediction of impending famine. The world's population had doubled by 1923 and doubled
again by 1973 without fulfilling Malthus's prediction. Malthusian Paul R. Ehrlich, in his 1968 book The
Population Bomb, said that "India couldn't possibly feed two hundred million more people by 1980"
and "Hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs. "Ehrlich's
warnings failed to materialize when India became self-sustaining in cereal production in 1974 (six
years later) as a result of the introduction of Norman Borlaug's dwarf wheat varieties.
However, Borlaug was well aware of the implications of population growth. In his Nobel lecture he
repeatedly presented improvements in food production within a sober understanding of the context of
population. "The green revolution has won a temporary success in man's war against hunger and
deprivation; it has given man a breathing space. If fully implemented, the revolution can provide
sufficient food for sustenance during the next three decades. But the frightening power of human
reproduction must also be curbed; otherwise the success of the green revolution will be ephemeral
only. Most people still fail to comprehend the magnitude and menace of the "Population
Monster"...Since man is potentially a rational being, however, I am confident that within the next two
decades he will recognize the self-destructive course he steers along the road of irresponsible
population growth..."
Famine
To some modern Western sociologists and writers, increasing food production is not synonymous with
increasing food security, and is only part of a larger equation. For example, Harvard professor
Ramesh Kumar P