Norman Borlaug's approach to
increasing global food production resulted in the saving of as many as one
billion people worldwide from famine, starvation and death and earned him the
title "Father of the Green Revolution."
Born of Norwegian descent on
March 25, 1914, Dr. Borlaug was raised in Cresco lowa USA. He obtained his
initial education in a one-room rural school house. After graduating in 1937
with a BS in Forestry, he went to work for the United States Forest Service,
initially in Idaho and later in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He returned to
graduate school at the University of Minnesota, and took up the study of plant
pathology. receiving his Ph.D in 1942.
In 1944, Dr. Borlaug participated
in the Rockefeller Foundation's pioneering technical assistance program in
Mexico, where he was a research scientist in charge of wheat improvement. For
the next sixteen years, he worked to solve a series of wheat production
problems that were limiting wheat cultivation in Mexico and to help train a
whole generation of young Mexican scientists.
The work in Mexico not only had a
profound impact on Dr. Borlaug's life and philosophy of agriculture research
and development, but also on agricultural production, first in Mexico and later
in many parts of the world. It was on the research stations and farmers' fields
of Mexico that Dr. Borlaug developed successive generations of wheat varieties
with broad and stable disease resistance, broad adaptation to growing
conditions across many degrees of latitude, and with exceedingly high yield
potential. These new wheat varieties and improved crop management practices
transformed agricultural production in Mexico during the 1940's and 1950's and
later in Asia and Latin America, sparking what today is known as the
"Green Revolution."
He also served as Consultant for
Food and Agriculture Organization of UN (FAO) in North Africa and Asia during
1960. It was that time when Norman E. Borlaug visited Pakistan for the first
time as a member of a FAO-Rockefeller Foundation team studying wheat production
problems. As a result of recommendation of this expert team, a group of
promising young researchers visited Mexico during 1961-63 where they were
exposed to new and practical methods for improving wheat production. This paved
the paths for introducing seeds of high yielding varieties in Pakistan and
brought the "Green Revolution" in Pakistan. Based on his contributions
the Government of Pakistan awarded him with Sitara-I-Imtiaz in 1968 and The
Hilal-I-Imtiaz Award in 1978. His contributions were also recognized by the
civilizations around the globe and were honored by many prestigious awards by
the governments of various countries like the Presidential Medal of Freedom
(USA), the Congressional Gold Medal (USA), the Padma Vibhushan (India).
He was awarded honorary degrees
of doctorates in the field of science, agriculture & agricultural sciences,
humane letters and law from more than fifty world renowned institutions
including honorary degree of Doctor of Science in 1978 by Punjab Agricultural
University (Pakistan). He was also designated as Honorary Consultant to Punjab
Agricultural University of Lyallpur (Pakistan) and awarded a Recognition Award
by Punjab Agricultural Research Institute (Pakistan) in 1971. In 1984, Pakistan
Academy of Sciences opt him as Foreign Honorary Member.
In 1970 Norman E. Borlaug was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for a lifetime of work to feed a hungry world.
One of Dr. Borlaug's most lasting contributions was the creation ofWorld Food
Prize in 1986 to recognize exceptional achievements in the field of agriculture
or efforts to counter poverty and hunger.
He died at the age of 95, on
September 12, 2009, in his Dallas home. United Nations' Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) described Borlaug as "... a towering scientist whose
work rivals that of the 20th century's other great scientific benefactors of
humankind".
On 100th Birthday Anniversary of Norman E. Borlaug, a commemorative postage stamp of Rs.8/- denomination is being issued by Pakistan Post on December 4, 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment