In which year did India import 18,000 tonnes of high-yielding wheat seed, marking the start of the Green Revolution?

1966. India imported 18,000 tonnes of high-yielding wheat seed in 1966, marking the start of the Green Revolution. Read more: IndEco0097 — Wheat Cultivation in India.

Which country is the world's largest producer of wheat?

China. China is the world's largest wheat producer. Wheat needs moderate temperature and rainfall while growing, then bright sunshine at harvest, and thrives in well-drained loamy soil.Read more: WorldGeo0105 — World's Major Crops: Growing Conditions and Leading Producers

Which of the following is a rabi crop, sown in winter and harvested in spring?

Wheat. Wheat is a rabi crop, sown around October to December after the monsoon retreats, and harvested around March to April. It needs cool weather to germinate and warmer weather to ripen. Rice, cotton and sugarcane are all kharif crops instead, sown with the start of the summer monsoon.

Which region of India concentrates most of the country's wheat cultivation?

The Indo-Gangetic Plains. Wheat needs cool winters and moderate water, and concentrates in the Indo-Gangetic Plains. Read more: IndGeo0009 — Geography of Indian Agriculture: Crop Belts and Soil Regions.

B.P. Pal's team released the wheat variety NP 809 in 1954. What made it significant?

It was the first wheat variety anywhere resistant to all three rust diseases at once. NP 809 was the first wheat variety in the world resistant to all three rust diseases simultaneously. Read more: GenSci0029 — B.P. Pal.

Which machine allows farmers to sow wheat directly into standing paddy stubble, without burning it?

Happy Seeder. The correct answer is the Happy Seeder. It sows seed and fertiliser in one pass without tilling and works through crop residue. The 'rotavator' option is wrong because a rotavator tills the soil. The 'thresher' option is wrong because it separates grain from the crop. The 'combine harvester' option is wrong because it harvests the crop, not sows the next one. Memory hook: the Happy Seeder sows without burning. Read more: Why Burning Crop Residue Releases Four Distinct Pollutants. Power Resources: Conventional and Non-Conventional Sources of Energy.

Green revolution definition: (SSC CGL 2024, Tier-I, General Awareness)

New agricultural strategy for food grains. HYVs, inputs to boost wheat/rice output.

What is/are the advantage/advantages of zero tillage in agriculture? 1. Sowing of wheat is possible without burning the residue of previous crop. 2. Without the need for nursery of rice saplings, direct planting of paddy seeds in the wet soil is possible. 3. Carbon sequestration in the soil is possible.

1, 2 and 3. All three are genuine advantages of zero tillage — no-burn wheat sowing, direct paddy seeding, and soil carbon sequestration. Read more: EnvEco0179 — Zero Tillage: How It Changes Wheat and Rice Farming.

Wheat Cultivation in India

Green Revolution: the 1966 high-yield seed push that turned Indian wheat from scarce to record-breaking, and the story behind the export ban it just ended.

A wheat field in Punjab, one of India’s top-producing states. Photo: Sarbjit Bahga, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

At a glance

India’s wheat story, in four facts

Top State

Uttar Pradesh grows the most, 35.87 million tonnes.

Global Rank

World’s second-largest wheat producer, after China.

2025-26 Harvest

A record 120.657 million tonnes.

Export Status

Full export ban lifted, 24 August 2026.

Rabi cropSown in autumn, harvested between March and April.

Green RevolutionA strategy to raise food-grain output, especially wheat and rice, through high-yield seeds.

MSPMinimum Support Price: the government’s guaranteed procurement price for a crop.

IIWBRIndian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, developer of newer climate-resilient varieties.

On this page

A shipment that changed everything
A Rabi crop, built for cool weather
Who grows the most
Research and weather links
Why one decision rewired an economy
Two paths to the top
What the Green Revolution actually means
The export ban is lifted
MCQ on Wheat Cultivation in India

A shipment that changed everything

Must Know

From seed import to export ban lifted

In 1966, India imported 18,000 tonnes of high-yielding wheat seed. That single shipment marked the start of the Green Revolution. Output nearly doubled, from 12 million tonnes in 1964 to 20 million tonnes by 1970.

May 2022: India bans wheat exports, citing domestic price pressure after a poor harvest.
October 2025: the government raises wheat MSP by ₹160, to ₹2,585 per quintal, for the 2026-27 season.
2025-26: India produces a record 120.657 million tonnes of wheat, confirmed by the Third Advance Estimate.
February 2026: the government partially eases the export ban, allowing 2.5 million tonnes of wheat and 0.5 million tonnes of wheat products.
24 August 2026: India fully lifts the wheat export ban, moving wheat, atta, and maida from “prohibited” to “free” export status.

Q1. True or False: A 1966 shipment of high-yielding wheat seed marked the start of the Green Revolution.

A Rabi crop, built for cool weather

Must Know

Season and soil

Wheat is a Rabi crop, sown in autumn and harvested between March and April. It needs a cool, moist climate for growth, and well-drained, fertile soil.

India’s global rank

India is the world’s second-largest wheat producer, after China.

The seed revolution behind it

Scientist M.S. Swaminathan worked with agronomist Norman Borlaug to bring high-yielding wheat varieties to India in the 1960s. Punjab and Haryana were the first states to widely adopt them. For the full first-phase story, see The Green Revolution and Crop Policy.

Q2. True or False: Wheat is a Kharif crop, sown at the start of the monsoon.

Who grows the most

Good to Know

Uttar Pradesh leads, Punjab bucks the trend

Uttar Pradesh is India’s top wheat producer, at 35.87 million tonnes, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Punjab.

Watch for this trap: Punjab’s own wheat output actually fell slightly in 2025-26, even as national production hit a record. A regional dip can sit inside a national high.

Research and weather links

Good to Know

Who develops today’s varieties

The Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR) develops the climate-resilient varieties behind recent record harvests.

A link to the storms overhead

Wheat’s dependence on winter rainfall links it directly to Western Disturbances, storm systems that also feed the Himalayan snowpack.

Why one decision rewired an economy

Great to Know

A head start that still shows

Wheat output nearly doubling within six years of the 1966 seed import shows something real: a single policy decision, backed by the right genetics, can restructure an entire agricultural economy.

Punjab and Haryana’s early adoption advantage became a decades-long head start. Even today, their infrastructure and farming practices still reflect choices made in the 1960s.

Two paths to the top

Great to Know

Wheat’s seed revolution, rice’s slow climb

Wheat and rice took very different paths to becoming India’s top two food grains. Wheat rode a top-down seed revolution, while rice’s recent record leans more on incremental yield gains.

Linking wheat sowing to Western Disturbances means climate shifts affecting those storm systems could directly threaten India’s most important Rabi crop.

Exam Edge

What the Green Revolution actually means

These papers test whether you know the Green Revolution’s real definition, not a vague or overbroad version of it. It was a specific strategy to raise food-grain output, especially wheat and rice — not a general push for “green” or environmental goals. Don’t confuse its actual food-grain focus with unrelated ideas the name might suggest.

One real question worth studying

SSC CGL 2024, Tier-I, Q20Which statement correctly defines the Green Revolution? The correct answer: a strategy in agriculture to produce food grains, especially wheat and rice. See the full SSC CGL 2024 paper.

The export ban is lifted

Current Affairs

Four years, then free again

On 24 August 2026, India fully lifted its wheat export ban, moving wheat, durum, flour, maida, and semolina from “prohibited” to “free” export status, ending a restriction in place since May 2022. The government cited comfortable stock levels and a goal of incentivising farmers to grow more wheat, following a partial easing in February 2026.

Figure 1 — FCI wheat stock vs. the buffer norm, 1 April 2026

Record stocks behind the decision

FCI wheat and rice stocks stood at 604.02 lakh tonnes as of 1 April 2026, nearly three times the mandatory buffer norm. Wheat alone held 217.92 lakh tonnes, against a requirement of just 74.60 lakh tonnes.

RMS 2026-27 wheat procurement crossed 34 million tonnes by late May 2026, up from 29.7 million tonnes the year before.

Quick Q&A

Why did the 1966 seed import matter so much?

Wheat output nearly doubled within six years, from 12 million tonnes in 1964 to 20 million tonnes by 1970, showing what better genetics plus policy could do.

Is India the world’s top wheat producer?

No. India is the world’s second-largest wheat producer, after China.

Why did India ban wheat exports in 2022?

It cited domestic price pressure after a poor harvest that year.

Why was the export ban fully lifted in August 2026?

A record 2025-26 harvest and record FCI stocks gave the government room to lift it, and incentivise farmers to grow more wheat.

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