{"id":54796,"date":"2025-07-14T11:00:45","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T05:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=54796"},"modified":"2025-07-14T11:53:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T06:23:08","slug":"why-india-must-support-cimmyt-and-irri-repaying-the-green-revolution-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/why-india-must-support-cimmyt-and-irri-repaying-the-green-revolution-debt\/","title":{"rendered":"Why India Must Support CIMMYT and IRRI: Repaying the Green Revolution Debt"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Green Revolution Debt Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">William S. Gaud of USAID coined the term \u201cGreen Revolution\u201d in 1968, highlighting efforts like India\u2019s adoption of high-yield wheat varieties to tackle global food challenges.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">USAID, which played a key role in supporting such agricultural advances, was shut down by the Trump administration from July 1.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Its closure has affected institutions like CIMMYT, a major centre for maize and wheat research.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CIMMYT, linked to Norman Borlaug, developed key semi-dwarf wheat varieties that sparked India\u2019s Green Revolution.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Initially funded by Mexico and the Rockefeller Foundation, CIMMYT later relied heavily on USAID, which contributed $83 million of its $211 million funding in 2024.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With USAID now shut, CIMMYT is turning to India\u2014one of its biggest beneficiaries\u2014for future support.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>CIMMYT<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Mexico-headquartered<\/b> <b>International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or CIMMYT is a major centre for maize and wheat research.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CIMMYT is to wheat what the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) \u2014 established by the Ford and Rockefeller foundations in 1960 \u2014 has been to the other big cereal grain crop.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It developed semi-dwarf wheat varieties like Lerma Rojo 64A and Sonora 63, first sown in India in 1964\u201365, sparking the Green Revolution.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Renowned agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug was closely associated with CIMMYT.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It originated from a Mexican government and Rockefeller Foundation initiative in the 1940s\u201350s.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">USAID later became CIMMYT\u2019s main funder, contributing $83 million of its $211 million grant revenues in 2024.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With USAID dismantled, CIMMYT is now seeking India as a major funding partner.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>How Wheat and Rice Research Became Cold War Tools<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CIMMYT and IRRI, key institutions backed by US foundations, helped expand wheat and rice production globally, especially in developing countries like India.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This was part of US Cold War strategy to prevent food-related political instability and communist influence.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Borlaug\u2019s wheat varieties and IRRI\u2019s semi-dwarf rice strains significantly increased crop yields and reduced growing times.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Borlaug\u2019s wheat varieties boosted Indian wheat yields from 1\u20131.5 tonnes to 4\u20134.5 tonnes per hectare, overcoming issues like lodging in traditional tall cultivars.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Borlaug received the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions to global food security.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>How India Benefited from the Green Revolution<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Green Revolution in India was driven by wheat and rice varieties from CIMMYT and IRRI.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indian scientists adapted these into wheat varieties like Kalyan Sona and Sonalika in 1967\u201368 using CIMMYT breeding material.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At IARI New Delhi, scientists led by VS Mathur developed high-yielding wheat varieties such as HD 2285 (1982), HD 2329 (1985), and later HD 2967 (2011), pushing wheat yields to 7+ tonnes per hectare.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In rice, V Ramachandra Rao and MV Reddy at Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University created mega varieties like Swarna (1982) and Samba Mahsuri (1986).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IARI scientists developed top-selling basmati varieties like Pusa Basmati 1 (1989), 1121 (2003), and 1509 (2013).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India exported 6.1 million tonnes of basmati worth $5.94 billion in 2024\u201325, with over 90% from IARI varieties.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Norman Borlaug credited India\u2019s success to strong institutions like IARI and leadership from MS Swaminathan.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Why India Still Needs CIMMYT and IRRI<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2024\u201325, six out of the top 10 wheat varieties in India\u2014covering over 20 million hectares out of 32 million hectares\u2014were developed using CIMMYT germplasm.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The only major recent Indian-bred wheat variety, HD 2967, peaked at 12\u201314 million hectares in 2017\u201319. Most new varieties since rely on CIMMYT material.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CIMMYT and IRRI remain crucial for India\u2019s food security and agricultural growth.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2024, India contributed just $0.8 million to CIMMYT and $18.3 million to IRRI, despite being a major beneficiary.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India should increase funding for these global institutions, focusing on strategic research in heat and drought tolerance, nitrogen use efficiency, gene editing, and AI tools.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, this support must complement\u2014not replace\u2014investment in India\u2019s own agricultural research system.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-economics\/new-delhi-has-chance-to-repay-green-revolution-debt-why-doing-so-is-in-indias-interest-10124443\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IE<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0| <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/usaid-norman-borlaug-institute-cimmyt-mexico-india-help-funding-maize-wheat-10119308\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IE<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India\u2019s food security owes much to CIMMYT and IRRI. With USAID\u2019s exit, India must boost support for these global agricultural institutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":54805,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1521,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-54796","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-green-revolution-debt","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}