The Green Revolution was criticised by social activists on the ground that the high-yield technology involving the use of mineral fertilizers and chemical pesticides is environmentally harmful. Similarly, some economists felt that the new technologies would bypass small and marginal farmers, for although the technologies are scale-neutral, they are not resource-neutral. This led to my coining the term ever-green revolution, to emphasise the need to enhance productivity in perpetuity without ecological harm.

Quoted in "Food as people's right". The Hindu. 4 January 2012. Retrieved on 25 November 2013.