Norman Borlaug: The Man Who Fed the World

Norman Borlaug, a plant scientist, increased global food production by developing ultra-resilient grains.

Norman Borlaug was raised on a farm in Iowa. Originally, he wanted to be a teacher and athletic coach. His life took a turn when a friend headed to the University of Minnesota invited him to tag along. When Borlaug flunked an entrance exam, he joined the University’s General College. This was an admissions path for students who didn’t meet academic requirements when they applied. He earned good grades and transferred to the college of forestry. He graduated with his bachelor’s degree in 1937.

Norman decided to apply for graduate school after attending a talk by plant pathologist E.C. Stalkman. “When I heard him speak, it changed my life, my whole career,” Norman told Minnesota Magazine in 2004. In 1942, Borlaug earned a doctorate degree in plant pathology from the University of Minnesota. He then worked for two years as a microbiologist at the Pont de Nemours Foundation.

In 1943, The Rockefeller Foundation and the Mexican government asked Borlaug to lead an innovative plant science project. Besides a few days spent in Canada, Norman had never traveled out of the country. Still, he accepted the offer and moved to Mexico in 1944. There, he developed a wheat variety that resisted the fungus responsible for most wheat disease in Mexico. By working in different locations at different times of the year, he developed grain that could be resilient in various climates.

Borlaug saw his new wheat as an opportunity to feed large populations facing dangerous food shortages. His project in Mexico led to the establishment of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. There, a new generation of scientists learned his research and production methods. Norman continued developing new wheat varieties. He was able to make one that withstood pests, resisted diseases, and yielded two to three times the amount of grain produced by traditional varieties. Mexican farmers began purchasing and planting these grains. Their production skyrocketed.

Borlaug’s work sparked a new era of food production. He was invited to replicate his success in India and Pakistan. Projects followed in several other countries including the Philippines, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Iraq, and Egypt. His varieties of grain, and those made by people using similar methods, led to a large increase in the amount of grain produced worldwide. People called it the “Green Revolution.”

By 1970, over 1,900 scientists from over 15 countries had studied and worked at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. That year, Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Mass famines had been predicted to take place in the 1960’s. Norman was credited for avoiding them by introducing his high-yield grain in countries that had not previously been self-sufficient in grain production. The legacy of his work is complex. Some believe that the Green Revolution was destructive. They accuse Borlaug of creating agricultural systems that were environmentally and economically unsustainable for the countries he worked with. Others believe that his work was vital, and that it prevented more than a billion deaths.

Borlaug won the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and the Congressional Gold medal in 2007, among many other notable honors. He served as Distinguished Professor of International Agriculture at Texas A&M and continued to consult on agricultural projects in Mexico into his 90’s. He died of cancer at the age of 95.

References:
Gillis, Justin. “Norman Borlaug, Plant Scientist Who Fought Famine, Dies at 95.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Sept. 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/business/energy-environment/14borlaug.html.
Nobel Lectures, Peace 1951-1970, Editor Frederick W. Haberman, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1972.
Stavig, Vicki, and Norman Borlaug. “Norman Borlaug.” Minnesota Magazine, Jan. 2004, https://scholarswalk.umn.edu/featured-scholars/norman-borlaug.

Key words:
Perseverance, Creativity, Responsibility, Repair the World, Make a Difference, Take Risks for Others

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