Past Successes 299drought set in. But the greatly expanded planting in the third year was a catastro-
phe, with yields of only 300kg/ha. The seed was of poor quality and, because of a
complicated bureaucracy, was distributed too late. The farmers also planted it too
deep for fear of drought and failed to keep the weeds down. In the fourth year they
reverted to the traditional hard-wheat varieties.
To oversee the international effort, a wheat and maize improvement pro-
gramme was established in 1966 under the umbrella of the International Centre
for the Improvement of Maize and Wheat, located at Chapingo in Mexico and
known by the initials (from its Spanish name) CIMMYT. The new seeds were
mostly exported at a price very little above the world market price. In 1967–1968
Pakistan imported sufficient of the new wheat seeds to plant more than 400,000
hectares. Pakistan and India’s yield take-offs occurred in 1967; subsequent yield
increases were about 50kg/ha per year (Figure 13.5). A major impetus for the rapid
uptake of the new varieties in South Asia was the two consecutive failures of the
monsoon in 1966 and 1967. The US, which was the only country carrying food
reserves of any size, had responded by shipping one-fifth of its grain crop to India.^20
This degree of dependence was recognized by both sides as being risky and
undesirable. In some instances, food-aid agreements had permitted countries to
put off serious agricultural development plans, and the large volume of food
received had depressed prices and reduced the incentive for farmers to produce
more. Then the monsoon failures helped to wipe out the world’s surpluses and
prices rose dramatically (rice going from $120 to over $200/ton in 1967). Faced
with a food crisis of this magnitude, a number of developing-country leaders
quickly recognized the potential of the new varieties. Presidents Ayub of Pakistan
and Marcos of the Philippines and Prime Minister Demirel of Turkey took a per-
sonal and active part in the promotion of the Green Revolution, and were able to
Figure 13.5 Growth in wheat yields in India and Pakistan