The history of the Green Revolution dates back to the 1940s, when Daniels, the United States Ambassador to Mexico, and Henry Wallace, the Vice President of the United States, launched a scientific mission to help the development of agricultural technology in Mexico. High-yielding varieties (HYVs) or "miracle seeds" were at the heart of the new technology. As a result, the Mexican government and the Rockefeller Foundation entered into a joint venture to introduce a plant breeding program in Mexico. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The success of the Green Revolution is often attributed to Norman Borlaug, the Norwegian-born, U.S.-based agricultural scientist interested in agriculture. In the 1940s he began conducting research in Mexico and developed new disease-resistant "miracle seeds" of high-yielding dwarf varieties of wheat. By combining Borlaug's wheat varieties with new mechanized agricultural technologies, Mexico was able to produce more wheat than its own citizens needed, leading it to become a wheat exporter in the 1960s. Before using these varieties, the country imported nearly half of its wheat supply. Thanks to the success of the Green Revolution in Mexico, its technologies spread throughout the world in the 1950s and 1960s. Two international agricultural research stations, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), were established under the "Miracle Seeds" program. These centers grew out of the Rockefeller Foundation's national program to launch new seeds, known as the New Agricultural Strategy, by the mid-1960s. In 1966, IRRI began producing "miracle" rice, in succession to CIMMYT's "miracle" wheat. The Green Revolution received support in Mexico, the Philippines, and India from the 1940s through the 1960s from Rockefeller, the Ford Foundation, and the United States. Government. The United States, for example, imported about half of its wheat in the 1940s but, after using the technologies of the Green Revolution, became self-sufficient in the 1950s and became an exporter in the 1960s. To continue using the technologies of the Green Revolution to produce more food for a growing population around the world, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation, as well as many government agencies around the world, have funded more research. In 1963, with the help of this funding, Mexico formed an international research institute called The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. Countries around the world have in turn benefited from the work on the Green Revolution conducted by Borlaug and this research institute. India, for example, was on the verge of mass famine in the early 1960s due to its rapid population growth. Borlaug and the Ford Foundation then implemented research there and developed a new rice variety, IR8, that produced more grains per plant when grown with irrigation and fertilizer. Please note: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Today, India is one of the world's leading rice producers, and the use of IR8 rice has spread throughout Asia in the decades since rice was developed in India. The term "Green Revolution" was coined by William Guard of the United States in 1968. It is the name given to the science-based transformation of Third World agriculture.