What mid-20th-century initiative introduced high-yielding crop varieties, synthetic fertilizers, and pesticides to increase global food production?

• A. Subsistence Farming
• B. Fertile Crescent
• C. Green Revolution
• D. PPE

Answer: (C)

The Green Revolution is the mid-20th-century push to boost food production by using high-yield crop varieties, synthetic fertilizers, and pesticides. This approach focused on breeding crops that respond with much higher yields, then supplying the inputs and management needed—better irrigation, soil fertility, and pest control—to realize those gains. The result was a rapid rise in crop output in many countries, helping to avert famines and expand food availability worldwide. It was a coordinated effort involving scientists, governments, and industry, with notable work from researchers who developed and promoted these improved seeds and farming practices.

Subsistence farming describes traditional farming where most or all output is for local consumption with little surplus, not a coordinated program to raise global food production. The Fertile Crescent refers to an ancient region known for early agricultural development, not a mid-20th-century initiative. The remaining option is not aligned with a real program aimed at modernizing agriculture globally.