From the 1960s, agricultural research led by figures such as Norman Borlaug produced high-yielding, short-stemmed (dwarf) varieties of wheat and rice that, combined with chemical fertilisers, controlled irrigation and pesticides, sharply raised cereal output. The package was deployed first in Mexico and then across South Asia, including India and Pakistan, helping avert predicted famines. Yields per hectare rose dramatically where the inputs could be supplied. The transformation also brought concerns over water use, chemical dependence and rural inequality.
By feeding rapidly growing populations and reducing the labour needed on the land, it accelerated mass rural-to-urban migration, helping to produce the explosively growing megacities of the developing world.
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