Editing Green Revolution (section)

=== Development in Mexico ===

{{See also|Agriculture in Mexico}}

Mexico has been called the 'birthplace' and 'burial ground' of the Green Revolution.<ref>Esteva, Gustavo, ''The Struggle for Rural Mexico''. South Hadley MA: Bergin & Garvey Publishers 1983, p. 57.</ref> It began with great promise and it has been argued that "during the twentieth century two 'revolutions' transformed rural Mexico: the [[Mexican Revolution]] (1910–1920) and the Green Revolution (1940–1970)."<ref>Cotter, Joseph. ''Troubled Harvest: Agronomy and Revolution in Mexico, 1880–2002'', Westport, CT: Praeger. Contributions in Latin American Studies, no. 22, 2003, p. 1.</ref>

The genesis of the Green Revolution was a lengthy visit in 1940 by U.S. Vice President-elect [[Henry A. Wallace]], who had served as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture during President Franklin Roosevelt's first two terms, and before government service, had founded a company, [[Pioneer Hi-Bred International]], that had revolutionized the hybridization of seed corn to greatly increase crop yields. He became appalled at the meager corn yields in Mexico, where 80 percent of the people lived off the land, and a Mexican farmer had to work as much as 500 hours to produce a single bushel of corn, about 50 times longer than the typical Iowa farmer planting hybrid seed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Culver & Hyde |first=John |title=American Dreamer: A Life of Henry A. Wallace |publisher=Norton & Co. |year=2000 |isbn=0-393-04645-1 |location=New York, NY |pages=250–51}}</ref> Wallace persuaded the Rockefeller Foundation to fund an agricultural station in Mexico to hybridize corn and wheat for arid climates, and to lead it, he hired a young Iowa agronomist named [[Norman Borlaug]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Andrews |first=Andy |title=The Butterfly Effect |publisher=Simple Truths, LLC |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-40418-780-1 |location=Naperville, Illinois |pages=76–77}}</ref> 

The project was supported by the Mexican government under new President [[Manuel Ávila Camacho]], and the U.S. government, the [[United Nations]], and the [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] (FAO). For the U.S. government, its neighbor Mexico was an important experimental case in the use of technology and scientific expertise in agriculture that became the model for international agricultural development.<ref>Wright, "Downslope and North", pp. 22–23.</ref> Mexico sought to transform agricultural productivity, particularly with irrigated rather than [[Dryland farming|dry-land cultivation]] in its northwest, to solve its problem of lack of food self-sufficiency.<ref>David Barkin, "Food Production, Consumption, and Policy", ''Encyclopedia of Mexico'' vol. 1, p. 494. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997.</ref> In the center and south of Mexico, where large-scale production faced challenges, agricultural production languished.<ref>James W. Wessman, "Agribusiness and Agroindustry", ''Encyclopedia of Mexico'' vol. 1, p. 29. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers 1997</ref> Increased production promised food self-sufficiency in Mexico to feed its growing and urbanizing population with the increase in a number of calories consumed per Mexican.<ref>Barkin, "Food Production", p. 494.</ref> The science of hybridization was seen as a valuable way to feed the poor and would relieve some pressure of the [[Land reform in Mexico|land redistribution]] process.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jennifer |first=Clapp |title=Food |publisher=Polity Press |location=Cambridge |year=2020 |edition=3rd |isbn=978-1-5095-4176-8 |page=34<!--check, cd be another edition-->}}</ref> In general, the success of "Green Revolution" depended on the use of machinery for cultivation and harvest, on large-scale agricultural enterprises with access to credit (often from foreign investors), government-supported infrastructure projects, and access to low-wage agricultural workers.<ref>Wright, "Downslope and North", p. 38.</ref>

Within eight years of Wallace's visit, Mexico had no need to import food, for the first time since 1910; within 20 years, corn production had tripled, and wheat production had increased five-fold.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Culver & Hyde |title=American Dreamer |year=2000 |pages=251}}</ref> In 1943, Mexico imported half of its wheat requirements, however by 1956 it had become self-sufficient and it was exporting half a million tons of wheat by 1964.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Staff |first1=M. N. D. |title=He left India for Mexico to solve global hunger: Meet Ravi Singh |url=https://mexiconewsdaily.com/india/he-left-india-for-mexico-to-solve-global-hunger-meet-ravi-singh/ |website=Mexico News Daily |access-date=14 March 2024 |date=13 March 2024}}</ref> Within 30 years, Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for ultimately saving two billion people from starvation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Andrews |first=Andy |title=The Butterfly Effect |publisher=Simple Truths LLC |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-40418-780-1 |pages=72–73, 78}}</ref>

Mexico was the recipient of knowledge and technology of the Green Revolution, and it was an active participant with financial supports from the government for agriculture and Mexican agronomists. In the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution, the government had redistributed land to [[ejido|ejidatarios]] in some parts of the country which had broken the back of the [[hacienda]] system. During the presidency of [[Lázaro Cárdenas]] (1934–1940), [[land reform in Mexico]] reached its apex in the center and south of Mexico. Agricultural productivity had fallen significantly by the 1940s.{{cn|date=October 2023}}

After Borlaug's agricultural station was established, in 1941, a team of U.S. scientists, Richard Bradfield (Cornell University), [[Paul Christoph Mangelsdorf|Paul C. Mangelsdorf]] (Harvard University), and [[Elvin Charles Stakman]] (under whom Borlaug had studied at the University of Minnesota<ref name="uom" />) surveyed Mexican agriculture to recommend policies and practices.<ref>E.C. Stakman, Richard Bradfield, and Paul C. Mangelsdorf, ''Campaigns Against Hunger''. Cambridge MA: Belknap Press 1967.</ref>{{pn|date=October 2023}} In 1943, the Mexican government founded the [[International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center]] (CIMMYT), which became a base for international agricultural research.{{cn|date=October 2023}} 

[[File:Borlaug Mexico locations.png|thumb|300px|Locations of [[Norman Borlaug]]'s research stations in the [[Yaqui River|Yaqui Valley]] and [[Chapingo]].]]

Agriculture in Mexico had been a sociopolitical issue, a key factor in some regions' participation in the Mexican Revolution. It was also a technical issue enabled by a cohort of trained agronomists who advised [[ejido|ejidatarios]] on how to increase productivity.<ref>Cotter, p. 10</ref> In the post-World War II era, the government sought development in agriculture that bettered technological aspects of agriculture in regions not dominated by small-scale [[ejido]] cultivators. This drive for agricultural transformation brought Mexico [[Food security in Mexico|self-sufficiency in food]], and in the political sphere during the [[Cold War]], helped stem unrest and the appeal of Communism.<ref name="Cotter, p. 11" />

The Mexican government created the Mexican Agricultural Program (MAP) to be the lead organization in raising productivity. Mexico became the showcase for extending the Green Revolution to other areas of Latin America and beyond, into Africa and Asia. New breeds of maize, beans, and wheat produced [[Bumper crop|bumper crops]] with additional inputs (such as fertilizer and pesticides) and careful cultivation. Many Mexican farmers who had been dubious about the scientists or hostile to them (often a mutual relationship of discord) came to see the scientific approach to agriculture as worth adopting.<ref>Cotter, p. 235</ref>

The requirements for the full package of inputs of new strains of seeds, fertilizer, synthetic pesticides, and water were often not within the reach of small-scale farmers.  The application of pesticides could be hazardous for farmers. Their use often damaged the local ecology, contaminating waterways and endangering the health of workers and newborns.<ref>Wright, "Downslope and North", pp. 39–41</ref>

One of the participants in the Mexican experiment, [[Edwin J. Wellhausen]], summarized the factors leading to its initial success. These include: high yield plants without disease resistivity, adaptability, and ability to use fertilizers; improved use of soils, adequate fertilizers, and control of weeds and pests; and "a favorable ratio between the cost of fertilizers (and other investments) to the price of the produce."<ref>Wellhausen, Edwin, "La agricultura en México". ''Ciencia y Desarrollo'', vol. 1, no. 13, March–April 1977, p. 40</ref>