Severe drought in the mid-1960s worsened food shortages and raised urgency for major farm productivity gains. This crisis helped set the political and policy conditions for a new approach centered on higher-yield seeds, irrigation, and modern inputs.
India set up the Agricultural Prices Commission (later renamed the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices) to advise on price policy for major crops. Its recommendations supported the growing system of minimum support prices (MSP), which reduced price risk for farmers adopting new technologies.
The Food Corporation of India (FCI) was established to buy grain, manage buffer stocks, and support public distribution. These functions later helped stabilize markets and make high-yield grain production financially viable for many farmers through government procurement.
The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) was created to expand producer-owned dairy cooperatives based on the "Anand Pattern." Although not the core of the crop-focused Green Revolution, dairy development became an important parallel pathway for rural income growth and input demand (like fodder).
The High Yielding Varieties Programme (HYVP) began in 1966 to spread improved wheat, rice, and other crop varieties along with a package of inputs. HYVP helped organize seed distribution and encouraged farmers—especially in irrigated areas—to adopt fertilizer-responsive dwarf varieties.
In 1966, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) released IR8, a high-yielding semi-dwarf rice variety. IR8 and related breeding work influenced rice improvement across Asia, including India, by showing how short-straw rice could respond strongly to fertilizer without lodging (falling over).
The Seeds Act created a legal framework for seed quality control, including systems for certification and oversight. Reliable seed quality was critical for scaling up high-yielding varieties, because farmers needed consistent germination and performance to justify higher input costs.
Operation Flood began in 1970 as a national dairy development program planned by NDDB and built around village milk cooperatives. It supported rural incomes and created a large, organized market for milk, complementing Green Revolution-era changes by broadening agricultural growth beyond grains.
By 1970–1971, wheat production rose sharply compared with the mid-1960s, reflecting rapid adoption of improved varieties and expanded irrigation in key regions. This surge marked a turning point: India began moving from chronic grain scarcity toward more dependable domestic supply, especially for wheat.
By the early 1970s, India achieved self-sufficiency in wheat, helped by high-yield seeds, irrigation, and procurement policies that rewarded production. This reduced dependence on large-scale grain imports and made food policy less vulnerable to international supply shocks.
Through the 1970s, the Green Revolution technology package expanded beyond initial districts, with farmers increasing access to water through canals and rapidly growing use of tube-wells. This expansion helped raise production, but it also increased dependence on groundwater and purchased inputs in many areas.
The largest early gains were concentrated in irrigated regions such as Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh, where infrastructure and procurement systems were strongest. This regional concentration boosted national foodgrain stocks, but it also contributed to uneven growth between wheat-rice belts and other cropping regions.
During 1981–1985, Operation Flood’s second phase expanded the cooperative dairy network and invested in milk procurement, processing, and marketing systems. By strengthening a nationwide "milk grid," it reinforced the broader rural transformation occurring alongside the later years of the Green Revolution period.
In 1985, the Agricultural Prices Commission was renamed the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), reflecting a more established role in MSP policy advice. By this point, the 1965–1985 Green Revolution phase had largely achieved its core goal of sharply higher wheat-rice production, while leaving longer-term challenges—regional inequality and environmental stress—for later policy debates.
Green Revolution in India (1965–1985)