I remember my days in Texas A&M university in 1990s when I took a course from the legendary plant breeder Dr. Norman Borlaug. He was a professor emeritus at the university after his retirement from active plant breeding. Dr. Borlaug was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1970 for his role in developing semi-dwarf, high yielding, disease resistant wheat varieties which had revolutionised food production around the globe, particularly in our own sub-continent. He was known as the ‘Father of Green Revolution” and credited for saving millions of people from starvation. Dr Borlaug was the only plant breeder so far to receive the Nobel Prize and that gave him the high status which no plant breeder has ever achieved. At Texas A&M, he offered a course on “International Agricultural Development”- a course mainly outlining the success of Green Revolution and the challenges ahead for global food security. At that time Dr. Borlaug was also heavily involved in the agricultural development of the famine stricken regions of Sub-Sharan Africa through some NGOs . He mentioned many times in our class that without improving African agriculture the world would never be a better place. Now, after 25 years onwards we see that Africa is slowly changing into production agriculture and becoming the next food basket for the future of mankind. Plant Breeders around the world are definitely playing a significant role in this rapid development in food production. However, I think their role and contribution is not properly recognised. Professor Norman Borlaug once said in our class “plant breeders are the victims of their own success” . When I see the plight of my fellow plant breeders I realise what he really meant by those words.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 09:17:40 +0000