The Real Green Revolution - Greenpeace UK

2.3.1 – Incentives for adopting OAA
Disillusion with ‘Green Revolution’
technologies
This is most likely to affect farmers with
direct experience of participation in
conventional chemical-dependent farming
systems that have given rise to what
Paarlberg (1994) terms ‘second generation
rural environmental problems’. These
include:
• diminishing returns from repeated
pesticide and fertiliser applications
• deterioration of soil and water quality
• health-related problems
• declining groundwater levels
• loss of biodiversity
• increased risk of crop disease.
P a rt of the problem lies in the toxic nature
of many forms of pesticides and fert i l i s e r s ,
but is compounded by inadequate methods of
technology transfer. For example, one re p o rt
f rom Algeria suggests that only a small
minority of hill farmers read and follow
i n s t ructions that accompany purc h a s e d
a g rochemicals (Moali-Grine, 2000).
The problems outlined above have proved
particularly acute in relation to cotton, which
accounts for 2.4% of global arable land but
24% of the insecticide market (Bärlocher,
2000). Despite the intensity of agrochemical
use in conventional cotton projects, organic
approaches to cotton growing have been
developed in many parts of the world,
creating environmental and economic
benefits (see case study 2, over). Another of
our case studies, of a tea estate in India, also
highlights the health and environmental
benefits of switching to organic production.
Managers at the Ambootia Tea Estate (see
case study 5) identify reductions in
respiratory illness amongst the workforce,
improvement in the quality of drinking water
and the improved stability of steep hillsides
as three key benefits flowing from their
conversion to biodynamic practices. Second
generation environmental problems such as
these have often coincided with declines in
(or stagnation of) yields obtained from
intensive farming practices and/or declining
world market prices. Individually, or in
combination, these forces are influencing
many farmers engaged in commodityorientated
production to jump off the
treadmill of conventional agricultural
production and convert to more sustainable
methods.
Case study 2 – Organic cotton production in
India, Peru and Mali
Cotton is one of the most demanding of
crops in terms of pesticide and insecticide
applications. The effect of these on
watercourses, human health and ecosystem
diversity has increasingly become a cause of
concern (Myers and Stolton, 1999). In many
areas cotton pests are becoming increasingly
resistant to spraying, and despite increased
frequency of pesticide applications, farmers
face declining yields. One response is a shift
to organic cultivation, as shown in these
three case studies.
The Maikaal Bio-Cotton Project, Madhya
Pradesh, India
In 1992 an alliance between local farmers,
their local spinning mill, sales agents and an
organic consultancy set about creating an
organic cotton project. Farmers were
experiencing severe pest problems, despite
repeated pesticide applications: whitefly had
developed pesticide resistance and many
farmers were abandoning cotton production
altogether, due to declining returns and
toxicity problems. Government researchers
and extensionists were sceptical of the
initiative and suggested changing crops
rather than method of production. There
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