dependence on few major crops has led to loss of biodiversity of farmers, and the increase of stubble burning cases since 1980. These problems were aggravated due to absence of training to use modern technology and vast illiteracy leading to excessive use of chemicals. Increased regional disparities The green revolution spread only in irrigated and high-potential rainfed areas. The villages or regions without the access of sufficient water were left out that widened the regional disparities between adopters and non-adopters. Since, the HYV seeds technically can be applied only in a land with assured water supply and availability of other inputs like chemicals, fertilizers etc. The application of the new technology in the dry-land areas is simply ruled out. The states like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, etc. having good irrigation and other infrastructure facilities were able to derive the benefits of the green revolution and achieve faster economic development while other states have recorded slow growth in agriculture production. Alternative farming methods In the years since Green Revolution was adopted, issues of sustainability have come up due to the adverse environmental and social impacts. To meet this challenge other alternatives of farming have emerged like small subsistence farms, family homesteads, New Age communes, village and community farming collectives and women’s cooperatives with the common purpose of producing organically grown, chemical free food. In green revolution areas of the country increasing numbers of families are experimenting on their own with alternative systems of land management and the growing of crops. Building upon the idea of sustainable development, commercial models for large scale food production have been developed by integrating traditional farming systems with appropropriate energy efficient technology. References Further reading Chakravarti, A.K. 1973. "Green Revolution in India" in Annals of the Association of American Geographers 63 (September 1973): 319-30. Frankel, Francine R. 1971. India’s Green Revolution: Economic Gains and Political Costs. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Gill, Monohar Singh. 1983. "The Development of Punjab Agriculture, 1977-80." Asian Survey 23 (July 1983):830-44. Ladejinsky, Wolf. 1970. "Ironies of India’s Green Revolution". Foreign Affairs no. 4. (July 1970): 758-68. Parayil, Govindan. 1992. "The Green Revolution in India: A Case Study in Technological Change," Technology and Culture 33 (October 1992): 737-56. Saha, Madhumita. "The State, Scientists, and Staple Crops: Agricultural 'Modernization' in Pre-Green Revolution India." Agricultural History 87 (Spring 2003):201-23 Sebby, Kathryn. 2010. "The Green Revolution of the 1960's and Its Impact on Small Farmers in