Every year millions of people get sick or die because they do not have enough to eat. Beginning in the 1940s scientists and governments started a movement called the Green Revolution to try to end this worldwide hunger. Its main goal was to end food shortages by improving agriculture, or farming.

Methods

The Green Revolution introduced new methods for growing, harvesting, and processing crops. It brought modern machines and other technology to farming. As a result, farmers were able to produce more and better food.

Farmers in Mexico, India, Kenya, and many other countries began planting new kinds of seeds created by scientists. These seeds resulted in larger crops. Farmers also learned how to treat their crops with pesticides and fertilizers. These chemicals protected the plants from insect pests, weeds, and disease. Complex systems of irrigation, or watering, also came into use. Plus, with new machinery for plowing the soil and harvesting crops, farming required less human work.

Mixed Results

Farmers still use the methods of the Green Revolution. One positive result of the movement was that many poor countries became able to grow enough food to feed their own people. This lowered the risk of famine, or a severe lack of food.

However, the Green Revolution also had some bad results. As time went on, some of the new types of seeds produced less food than they did at first. Many of the pesticides and fertilizers were harmful to humans and polluted the land. Also, farmers using the new seeds had to buy them from other countries instead of using seeds from their own land. Finally, even though the Green Revolution produced more food, that food did not always reach the people who needed it.