Question

During the first phase of the Green Revolution in India (spanning the mid-1960s to mid-1970s), the introduction of High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds was largely concentrated in which specific regions?

• A. \( \text{Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh} \)
• B. \( \text{The arid regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat} \)
• C. \( \text{The eastern states of Bihar, Odisha, and West Bengal} \)
• D. \( \text{The rain-dependent semi-arid areas of the Deccan Plateau} \)

Hint:

HYV technology in the mid-1960s was developed only for wheat, so work out which Indian regions already had cool winters, alluvial soil and reliable irrigation to support this specific Rabi crop, rather than assuming the programme covered the whole country at once.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Concept: The introduction of High Yielding Variety (HYV) seed packages required strict agricultural preconditions—including reliable, controlled irrigation networks and heavy chemical fertilizer inputs—to successfully increase crop yields.

Step 1: Identify regional infrastructure advantages during Phase 1. When the program launched in the mid-1960s, the union government chose to concentrate its limited supplies of HYV wheat seeds and financial subsidies in regions that already had reliable, well-developed irrigation canals and groundwater pumping infrastructure.

Step 2: Map the specific target states. This requirement led to the program being concentrated in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. These regions experienced a dramatic surge in agricultural output (the wheat revolution), while rain-dependent or less developed agricultural areas across eastern and southern India saw little initial impact until subsequent expansion phases in the late 1970s.

Answer 2

Concept:

• HYV (High Yielding Variety) technology in the mid-1960s existed only for wheat, not yet for rice or other crops, so its spread depended on where wheat was already a major Rabi crop.
• Matching a crop package requirement to regional agro-climatic conditions is a faster way to locate a Green Revolution region than listing infrastructure facts state by state.

Step 1: Identify the crop tied to Phase 1.
Dwarf wheat varieties were the only HYV seeds ready for large scale use in the mid-1960s, so Phase 1 of the Green Revolution is really the story of the wheat revolution.

Step 2: Match the crop to its climate needs.
Wheat is a Rabi, or winter, crop that needs cool temperatures and steady irrigation rather than heavy monsoon rain, and grows best in alluvial soil.

Step 3: Locate the region with this exact profile.
The northwestern Indo-Gangetic plain, covering Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, has cool winters, alluvial soil and an established canal and tubewell irrigation network, making it the natural fit for the new wheat package.

Step 4: Rule out the remaining options by climate mismatch.
Rajasthan and Gujarat are too arid for a water-hungry package. Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal were historically rice-growing and rain-dependent in this period. The Deccan Plateau is a rainfed cotton and millet belt, unsuited to a Rabi wheat crop.

Final Answer: Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh.