Europe's Green Revolution and Others Since
The Rise and Fall of Peasant-Friendly Plant Breeding
Routledge Explorations in Economic History Series

How best to foster agricultural development in the Third World has long been a subject of debate and from a European perspective the persistent failure to design peasant-friendly technology is puzzling. From the late 19th century, for example, various western European countries also underwent ?green revolutions? in which systematic attempts were made to promote the adoption of technological innovation by peasant-farmers.

This book focuses on the development of public-sector plant-breeding in Germany from the late nineteenth century through its fate under National Socialism. Harwood uses this historical case study in order to argue that peasant-friendly research has an important role to play in future Green Revolutions.

Introduction 1. The Origins of Peasant-Friendly Research in Germany 2. The Movement for Peasant-Friendly Plant-Breeding, 1880-1905 3. Research, Development and Extension at the South German Stations 4. Success Breeds Trouble: the Controversy over Public-Sector Breeding, 1902-1933 5. The Fate of Peasant-Friendly Breeding under National Socialism 6. The Green Revolution and its Critics 7. Reforming the Revolution: Peasant-Friendly Innovation, 1970 -2010 8. Three Conclusions

Jonathan Harwood is Emeritus Professor if the History of Science and Technology at the University of Manchester,UK.