Agricultural Revolutions in India

This article will abreast you with important Agricultural Revolutions that occurred in India. Along with the list of agricultural revolutions in India, you will also learn about the products and people associated with these revolutions.

As per the exam point of view, the agricultural revolutions are important for the general awareness section of various competitive exams. 

Candidates preparing for UPSC exam must know that the agricultural revolution is covered in the Static GK section of the exam.

Revolutions in Agriculture

Agricultural revolution refers to the significant changes in agriculture when there are inventions, discoveries or new technologies implemented. These revolutions change the ways of production and increase the production rate. 

Various agricultural revolutions have occurred in India and have marked the beginning of a completely new era in the agricultural field. The agricultural revolutions helped Indian agriculture grow exponentially and created new opportunities. 

It is important for candidates preparing for any competitive exams like Bank, RRB, SSC, or any other Government exams to be aware of the new inventions taking place in the agricultural field.  Therefore, we have compiled a list of revolutions in agriculture along with the product it relates to and the person who coined these revolutions. 

Aspirants of UPSC 2023 can refer to important links given below:

List of Agricultural Revolutions in India 

Major agricultural revolutions that took place in India are as mentioned below:

Highlights of Agricultural Revolutions

Black Revolution: To increase petroleum production, the Government planned to accelerate the production of ethanol and to mix it up with petrol to produce biodiesel. Ethanol is a renewable source of energy and is a by-product of sugar production produced from molasses. The blending of ethanol with petrol has been practised in the USA and Brazil for over 70 years. The blending of ethanol with transport fuels would provide better returns to farmers, supplement scare resources of hydrocarbons and environment-friendly by reducing pollutants as it helps combustion.

Pink Revolution: The boom of export and production of meat in India is the period of the Pink Revolution. It denotes the technological revolution in the poultry and meat processing sector.  Know more about this revolution on the page linked.

Grey Revolution: Grey revolution is related to increased fertilizer production. It is basically associated with the mal effects of the green revolution of India focusing on what can happen if the new agricultural equipment turns things wrong. 

White Revolution: Verghese Kurien, the Father of the White Revolution was a social entrepreneur. His “billion-litre idea”, Operation Flood made India the world’s largest milk producer and dairy farming India’s largest self-sustaining industry. Details on operation flood and White Revolution in India can be found on the linked page. 

Operation Greens: On the lines of Operation Flood, the Government of India launched Operation Greens seeking to mirror the success of milk in the White Revolution for fruits and vegetables of the nation with a major focus on Tomato, onion and potato – TOP Crops. The scheme operation Greens was launched in the Union budget 2018-2019. Detailed information on Operation Greens can be found on the linked page.

Yellow Revolution: In the Yellow Revolution,  rising from the ‘net importer’ state, India achieved the status of a self-sufficient and net exporter. An all-time record of 25 million tonnes of oilseeds production from annual oilseed crops was attained during the early nineties. More detail on the Yellow Revolution is given on the page linked here.  

Green Revolution: The early 1960s was the phase of the Green revolution in India. It led to an increase in higher-yielding varieties of seeds due to improved agronomic technology. It allowed the then developing country, India, to overcome poor agricultural productivity. Detailed information on the Green Revolution can be checked here. 

Silver Revolution: The production of eggs was tremendously increased during the Silver Revolution phase. The increased production of eggs was made possible due to medical science and more protein-rich food for the hens. 

Golden Revolution: The period between 1991 to 2003 is known as the period of the Golden Revolution. This made India a world leader in the production of bananas, mangoes, etc. and provided sustainable livelihood and nutrition options. Know the period of the Golden Revolution in detail. 

Brown Revolution: This revolution focuses on meeting the demand for coffee from the developed nations by growing socially responsible and environment-friendly coffee. The Brown Revolution is related to Visakhapatnam’s tribal areas.

Blue Revolution: Blue revolution made the emergence of aquaculture an important and highly productive agricultural activity. Know about the Blue Revolution in detail. 

Golden Fiber Revolution: Golden Fibre Revolution in India is related to jute production. During the industrial revolution, jute started being used as a raw material in the fabric industry and until today, the processed jute is used for making strong threads and jute products. Know more on Golden Fibre Revolution in the link provided. 

Agriculture Revolutions In India – Sample Questions

Aspirants will understand the importance of the topic Agricultural Revolutions in India only when they know the type of questions asked in the examination, based on them. Hence, given below are a few sample questions on revolutions in India for their reference.

Q1. Which of the following periods is known as the first Green Revolution period in India?

1. 1975-1978
2. 1951-1953
3. 1981-1983
4. 1966-1969

Answer (4) 1966-1969

Q2. The Green Revolution in India was an introduction of high-yielding varieties (HYV) of seeds for ____.

1. Millets
2. Wheat
3. Oilseeds
4. Pulses

Answer (2) Wheat

Q3. Round Revolution is associated with the production of ____.

1. Eggs
2. Tomatoes
3. Potatoes
4. Onions

Answer (3) Potatoes

Q4. Silver Fibre revolution is related to ___.

1. Milk Production
2. Meat Production
3. Cotton production
4. Fruits Production

Answer (3) Cotton Production

Q5. Who is known as the Mother of Silver Revolution in India?

1. Durgesh Patel
2. Verghese Kurien
3. Harilal Chaudhary
4. Indira Gandhi

Answer (4) Indira Gandhi

Q6. Which state was chosen as the initiation site in India for Green Revolution?

1. Tamil Nadu
2. Punjab
3. Bihar
4. Andhra Pradesh

Answer (2) Punjab

Q7. Production of onions, drugs and pharmaceuticals, prawns all are associated with ____ revolution.

1. Pink Revolution
2. Grey Revolution
3. Red Revolution
4. Evergreen Revolution

Answer (1) Pink revolution 

Q9. ____ is known as the Father of the White Revolution.

1. Norman Borlaug
2. Nirpakh Tutej
3. Dr. Verghese Kurien
4. M.S. Swaminathan

Answer (3) Dr. Verghese Kurien

Q10. Black Revolution is concerned with _________.

1. Crude oil production
2. Grapes production
3. Oilseeds production
4. Coal production

Answer (1) Crude oil production

The questions given above are for reference, candidates can go through the Government exam Previous Year Question Papers with solution PDFs to understand the scope of questions framed on the agricultural revolution in India.

Aspirants of various government exams should go through important preparation strategies for competitive exams for assistance. For more such articles keep visiting BYJU’s page.