You're Right! The Green Revolution was supposed to provide more job opportunities but
in the long run, it posed a threat to employment in the rural areas. Applying
the strategies of the Green Revolution meant that there were more tasks
to be done. Multiple-cropping in a year meant seed beds needed to be prepared
frequently. There was also the need to apply fertilisers, spray insecticides
and harvest the larger crop output. However, there were also strong incentives
for farmers to switch to use of machines to do these tasks. This was because
machines were efficient at doing such tasks. In some countries such as
Sri Lanka, the government provided tax concessions and rebates as well
as subsidies for the purchase of agricultural machinery. All these motivated
farmers to switch to machines and as a result, many farmhands lost their
jobs. Thus the rate of rural unemployment increased. |