The Agricultural Revolution
In the beginning …
Green Revolution: CROPS
Now …
Blue Revolution: WATER
What was the Green Revolution?
▪ Term coined by William Gaud (Director of
U.S. Agency for International Development)
in March 1968
▪ Movement to increase yields by using
– New crop cultivars
– Irrigation
– Fertilizers
– Pesticides
– Mechanization
What was the Green Revolution? … (2)
▪ A planned international effort funded by:
– Rockefeller Foundation
– Ford Foundation
– Many developing country governments
▪ Purpose: To eliminate hunger by improving
crop performance
▪ Important figure Dr Norman Borlaug
Dr Norman Borlaug, who???
▪ Considered father of Green Revolution
▪ U.S. plant pathologist/plant breeder
▪ Joined the Rockefeller Foundation in 1944
▪ Assigned to the international maize and
wheat improvement center (CIMMYT) in
Mexico
▪ Won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize
What is the Blue Revolution?
▪ Acute need of water for human
consumption & agricultural irrigation
▪ 2.7 billion people worldwide will suffer from
water shortage by 2025 (United Nations)
▪ Solution?
Efficient water use
What has caused the Green & Blue
Revolutions?
❖Scarcity of resources (kekangan sumber)
Agricultural soils
• declining acreage
• fertility problems
Human capital
• lack of skilled workers
• age gap
What has caused the Green & Blue
Revolutions? … (2)
❖Scarcity of resources (kekangan sumber)
Food import
• causes heavy cash outflow
• deficit in balance of trade
• food security?
Population increase
• M’sia 30 million
• World 7 billion
What has caused the Green & Blue
Revolutions? … (3)
❖Scarcity of resources (kekangan sumber)
Differentiated agricultural industry
• to meet the needs of everyone!
o health food, vegetarian, baby food, etc
• snacks
• livestock/poultry
• vegetables/fruits
• grain crops (rice, etc)
• industrial crops (oil palm, rubber, pineapple)
What has caused the Green & Blue
Revolutions? … (4)
❖Scarcity of resources (kekangan sumber)
Environmental-unfriendly practices
• pollution of soil and waterways (rivers, lake, etc)
o euthrophication
• contamination of food chain
What has caused the Green & Blue
Revolutions? … (5)
❖Scarcity of resources (kekangan sumber)
Technological pressure
• conventional agricultural practices cannot meet
the current production demand
o high quantity & quality of agricultural
produce/products with minimum labor!
• K-factor
• high start-up cost
How to overcome the problem of
agricultural resource scarcity?
▪ Breeding & Agrobiotechnology
– high yields
– resistance to pest & disease
– savings in input costs (fertilizer, pesticides)
– eg. rice varieties (MR219, MR220, MRQ50) by MARDI
⬧ Tissue culture propagation without seeds (in vitro)
• Higher production of planting materials
• eg. orchids, herbs, oil palm
⬧ Genetic engineering
• tomato in Holland – better texture & taste
• tapioca in USA – bigger size & higher starch content
How to overcome the problem of
agricultural resource scarcity? … (2)
▪ Inorganic (chemical) & organic inputs
– fertilizers, pesticides, soil amendments
– beneficial/symbiotic associations
• Rhizobia (nitrogen fixation)
• Mycorrhizae (phosphorus uptake efficiency)
– biological control
⬧ Towards sustainable agriculture?
• Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
• Good Manufacturing Practices
• Skim Amalan Ladang Baik Malaysia (SALaM)
• Skim Organik Malaysia (SOM)
How to overcome the problem of
agricultural resource scarcity? … (3)
▪ Precision Agriculture
– site-specific management of agricultural inputs
A holistic farm management strategy which allows
adjustment of agricultural inputs so as to match
varying soil/crop needs and field attributes
Precision Agriculture (PA)
A management scheme that addresses
variability
Made possible through the integration of
several technologies
Global Positioning System (GPS)
Satellite sensors
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Variable Rate Application (VRA)
The goal of PA is …
❑ to manage variability in the spatial-
temporal continuum so as to:
⬧ maximize net economic return
⬧ increase sustainability
⬧ minimize environmental degradation
PA is a cyclic process …
• GPS
• Yield monitor
GATHER INFORMATION • Sensors
(ground/remote)
• Grid/directed
sampling
• Database
management
PROCESS & ANALYZE
INFORMATION
• VRA • Geostatistics
• GIS
• Neural networks
IMPLEMENT CHANGE
How to overcome the problem of
agricultural resource scarcity? … (4)
▪ Mechanization & Automation
– to reduce labor and save operation time
• land preparation
• planting
• agronomic maintenance
• harvesting
• post-harvest procedures
• food processing
How to overcome the problem of
agricultural resource scarcity? … (5)
▪ Food Biotechnology
– to meet consumer demand for
• nutritious food
• frozen food
• dry food
• health products
How to overcome the problem of
agricultural resource scarcity? … (6)
▪ Net Export
– to increase export of agricultural
produce/products and reduce imports
• eg. fruits (durian, papaya, rambutan)
poultry (meat, eggs)
palm oil
cut flowers
ornamental plants
⬧ Export value of fresh tropical fruits (2002)
➢ RM 298 million
⬧ Export value of flowers (2003)
➢ RM 100 million