Norman Borlaug, who was the originator of what was a dwarf wheat variety in Mexico, is considered the godfather of the Green Revolution. Land devoted to the semi-dwarf wheat and rice varieties in Asia expanded from 200acres (0.8km2) in 1965 to over 40 million acres (160,000km2) in 1970. Brown, L. R. 1970. countincognito writes "Norman Borlaug, a genuinely remarkable man and the father of the Green Revolution in agriculture, has died of cancer at his Dallas home aged 95. Then we'd take the seed from the best plants south and plant it at high elevation, when days were getting longer and there was lots of rain. Norman Ernest Borlaug (/brl/; March 25, 1914 September 12, 2009)[2] was an American agronomist who led initiatives worldwide that contributed to the extensive increases in agricultural production termed the Green Revolution. Borlaug's method would allow the various different disease-resistant genes from several donor parents to be transferred into a single recurrent parent. [40], Borlaug's name is nearly synonymous with the Green Revolution, against which many criticisms have been mounted over the decades by environmentalists and some nutritionists[who?]. Borlaug is a warm adherent of birth control. He lacked trained scientists and equipment. [according to whom? It was to be staffed with both Mexican and US scientists, focusing on soil development, maize and wheat production, and plant pathology. Each player picks a few cards at random, and bets on whether one thinks one's card shows a greater person than the other players' cards based on a characterization such as humanitarianism or scientific achievement. Wharton, Clifton R., Jr.,The Green Revolution: Cornucopia or Pandoras Box, Foreign Affairs, 47 (April, 1969) 464-476. Mexico had become fully self-sufficient in wheat production, and a net exporter of wheat. Forgotten Benefactor of Humanity - The Atlantic In the field of education, his love for plants did not fade away. [78][79], On September 27, 2006, the United States Senate by unanimous consent passed the Congressional Tribute to Dr. Norman E. Borlaug Act of 2006. The Green Revolution: A Symposium on Science and Foreign Policy. From 1942 to 1944, he was a microbiologist on the staff of the du Pont de Nemours Foundation where he was in charge of research on industrial and agricultural bactericides, fungicides, and preservatives. Norman Ernest Borlaug, (born March 25, 1914, near Saude, Iowa, U.S.died September 12, 2009, Dallas, Texas), American agricultural scientist, plant pathologist, and winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1970. But other land uses exist, such as urban areas, pasture, or fallow, so further research is necessary to ascertain what land has been converted for what purposes, to determine how true this view remains. Wright, Angus 2005. (1914-2009). A central figure in the green revolution, Norman Ernest Borlaug (born March 25, 1914) was born on a farm near Cresco, Iowa, to Henry and Clara Borlaug. On December 6, 2006, the House of Representatives passed the measure by voice vote. Bombs are falling on my front lawn. In 1953, Borlaug extended this technique by suggesting that several pure lines with different resistance genes should be developed through backcross methods using one recurrent parent. The Significance of Borlaug | Norman Borlaug The village never met their aims. Norman Borlaug - Biographical - NobelPrize.org Caught Up in the War on Communism: Norman Borlaug and the - PBS That year, a joint venture between The Carter Center and SAA was launched called Sasakawa-Global 2000 (SG 2000). The Green Revolution resulted in increased production of food grains (especially wheat and rice) and was in large part due to the introduction into developing countries of new, high-yielding varieties, beginning in the mid-20th century with Borlaugs work. In the summer he would breed wheat in the central highlands as usual, then immediately take the seeds north to the Valle del Yaqui research station near Ciudad Obregn, Sonora. Norman Ernest Borlaug ( / brl /; March 25, 1914 - September 12, 2009) [2] was an American agronomist who led initiatives worldwide that contributed to the extensive increases in agricultural production termed the Green Revolution. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. For his contributions to the world food supply, Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. Although newer varieties of food grains have been developed to be high-yielding and also resistant to local pests and diseases, modern agriculture has yet to achieve environmental sustainability in the face of an ever-growing human population. [33] Four other high-yield varieties were also released, in 1964: Lerma Rojo 64, Siete Cerros, Sonora 64, and Super X. He began working with the DuPont Company in 1942 but was soon recruited as a research scientist in charge of wheat improvement for the Rockefeller Foundations Cooperative Mexican Agricultural Program in Mexico, where he worked from 1944 to 1960. In addition to the Nobel Prize, Borlaug received the 1977 U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, the 2002 Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Sciences,[72] the 2002 Rotary International Award for World Understanding and Peace, and the 2004 National Medal of Science. As of January 2004, Borlaug had received 49 honorary degrees from as many universities, in 18 countries, the most recent from Dartmouth College on June 12, 2005,[73] and was a foreign or honorary member of 22 international Academies of Sciences. 2001. New York, The Rockefeller Foundation, October 21, 1970. Borlaugs short-stemmed wheat could withstand the increased weight of fertilized heads and was a key element in the Green Revolution in developing countries. The man who saved a billion lives | University of Minnesota Borlaug, Norman E., Mexican Wheat Production and Its Role in the Epidemiology of Stem Rust in North America, Phytopathology, 44 (1954) 398-404. [82], Borlaug was a foreign fellow of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences.[83]. what did norman borlaug invent? "[64], In 1971, he was named a Distinguished Fellow of the National Academy of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine of Argentina[65], In 1971, he received the American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award.[66]. In 1970, this land accounted for over 10% of the more productive cereal land in Asia.[26]. To his scientific goal he soon added that of the practical humanitarian: arranging to put the new cereal strains into extensive production in order to feed the hungry people of the world and thus providing, as he says, a temporary success in mans war against hunger and deprivation, a breathing space in which to deal with the Population Monster and the subsequent environmental and social ills that too often lead to conflict between men and between nations. [74] In Iowa and Minnesota, "World Food Day", October 16, is referred to as "Norman Borlaug World Food Prize Day". His educational, scientific and philosophical roots run . While the affluent nations can certainly afford to adopt ultra low-risk positions, and pay more for food produced by the so-called 'organic' methods, the one billion chronically undernourished people of the low income, food-deficit nations cannot. In the mid-1960s, he introduced dwarf wheat into India and Pakistan, and production increased enormously. Soon we had varieties that fit the whole range of conditions. Dr. Borlaug is presently participating in extensive experimentation with triticale, a man-made species of grain derived from a cross between wheat rye that shows promise of being superior to either wheat or rye in productivity and nutritional quality. [67], In 1980, he received the S. Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.[68]. In May 1962, M. S. Swaminathan, a member of IARI's wheat program, requested of Dr B. P. Pal, director of IARI, to arrange for the visit of Borlaug to India and to obtain a wide range of dwarf wheat seed possessing the Norin 10 dwarfing genes. GMOs were not inherently dangerous "because we've been genetically modifying plants and animals for a long time. His goal: defeating stem rust, a disease that was decimating Mexico's wheat. Green Revolution: History, Technologies, and Impact - Treehugger Many of the people who worked for him were starving. Norman Borlaug Blasts GMO Doomsayers - agbioworld.org About Norman Borlaug - The World Food Prize In 2006, the Texas A&M University System created the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture[citation needed] to be a premier institution for agricultural development and to continue the legacy of Dr. Borlaug. Borlaug resided in northern Dallas the last years of his life, although his global humanitarian efforts left him with only a few weeks of the year to spend there. In-Depth History. [19] The Rockefeller Foundation contacted E.C. As of 1945, wheat would then be bred at locations 700miles (1000km) apart, 10 degrees apart in latitude, and 8500feet (2600m) apart in altitude. They've never experienced the physical sensation of hunger. Norman worked for more than a decade cross-breeding wheat to grow quickly, be disease resistant, and have shorter, thicker stems. Be patient, the money is in the bank"[17], These delays prevented Borlaug's group from conducting the germination tests needed to determine seed quality and proper seeding levels. Borlaug said that his first few years in Mexico were difficult. For Borlaug, the rapid increase in yields suggested that there was still hope for higher food production throughout sub-Saharan Africa,[36] despite lingering questions about population sustainability and the absence of long-term studies in Africa. Borlaug, Norman E., Wheat, Rust, and People, Phytopathology, 55 (1965) 1088-1098. [30], Dwarfing is an important agronomic quality for wheat; dwarf plants produce thick stems. Other tasks included work with camouflage; canteen disinfectants; DDT to control malaria; and insulation for small electronics.[17]. The Green Revolution: Norman Borlaug and the Race to Fight Global - PBS Father of Green Revolution, Norman Borlaug, Dies at 95 [29] Backcrossing involves crossing a hybrid and subsequent generations with a recurrent parent. Nobel Peace Prize: developer of high-yield wheat receives award (Norman Ernest Borlaug). When Harrar vetoed his plan, Borlaug resigned. In the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now." Elvin Stakman, who was visiting the project, calmed the situation, talking Borlaug into withdrawing his resignation and Harrar into allowing the double wheat season. That wasn't supposed to happen by the books". Borlaug was credited with saving hundreds of millions of lives and averting a major famine. He spent one summer in the middle fork of Idaho's Salmon River, the most isolated piece of wilderness in the nation at that time.[17]. Once the convoy entered the U.S., it had to take a detour, as the U.S. National Guard had closed the freeway due to the Watts riots in Los Angeles. "[57] However, Borlaug remained on the advisory board of Population Media Center, an organization working to stabilize world population, until his death. Proceedings before the Subcommittee on National Security Policy and Scientific Developments of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, 91st Congress, First Session, December 5, 1969 (#38-612) J. Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, 1970. After they are in use, the world will have no additional sizable blocks of arable land left to put into production, unless you are willing to level whole forests, which you should not do. The university was unable to expand the necessary content or customer base, and since late 2001 has been defunct. In 1961 to 1962, Borlaug's dwarf spring wheat strains were sent for multilocation testing in the International Wheat Rust Nursery, organized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Norman Borlaug died on 12 September, 2009. U.S. Vice President-Elect Henry Wallace, who was instrumental in persuading the Rockefeller Foundation to work with the Mexican government in agricultural development, saw Avila Camacho's ambitions as beneficial to U.S. economic and military interests. They do their lobbying from comfortable office suites in Washington or Brussels. In 1944, Norman Borlaug was recruited for a Rockefeller Foundation program designed to help rural farmers in Mexico. A vigorous man who can perform prodigies of manual labor in the fields, he brings to his work the body and competitive spirit of the trained athlete, which indeed he was in his high school and college days. Wheat production in Mexico multiplied threefold owing to this and other varieties. Norwegian officials notified his wife in Mexico City at 4:00a.m., but Borlaug had already left for the test fields in the Toluca valley, about 40miles (65km) west of Mexico City. In 1981, Borlaug became a founding member of the World Cultural Council.[24]. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. [18] They had been married for sixty nine years. In 2008, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the organization was re-named the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative[52], The limited potential for land expansion for cultivation worried Borlaug, who, in March 2005, stated that, "we will have to double the world food supply by 2050." Long before we called it science, people were selecting the best breeds. Stakman and two other leading agronomists. The Imperial Japanese Navy had gained control of the island of Guadalcanal, and patrolled the sky and sea by day. A chauffeur took her to the fields to inform her husband. The expression the green revolution made Borlaug's name known beyond scientific circles, but he always emphasized that he himself was only part of a team. Eventually he was given the title Distinguished Professor of International Agriculture at the university and the holder of the Eugene Butler Endowed Chair in Agricultural Biotechnology. [7][8][9][10] According to Jan Douglas, executive assistant to the president of the World Food Prize Foundation, the source of this number is Gregg Easterbrook's 1997 article "Forgotten Benefactor of Humanity." Statistics on the vast acreage planted with the new wheat and on the revolutionary yields harvested in Mexico, India, and Pakistan are given in the presentation speech by Mrs. Lionaes and in the Nobel lecture by Dr. Borlaug. Per NobelPrize.org, Norman Borlaug was born in the small town of Cresco, Iowa in 1914, and spent his childhood working on his family farm.