This article examines the influence of science and politics on the framing of modern agricultural technologies. It discusses the two major developments in agricultural technology in the last halfcentury: the introduction of higher-yielding or “modern” varieties (HYVs/MVs) of major cereals in the 1940s, which gave rise to “Green Revolution”; and the application of genetic engineering in agriculture beginning in the 1980s. It analyzes the arguments for and against the Green Revolution and genetic modification of crops, and highlights the controversies surrounding them. This article suggests that there remains uncertainty about the social and economic impacts of both the Green Revolution and transgenics.
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