Friday, September 18, 2009

Father of green revolution Norman Borlaug died


[Norman Borlaug]
"Some credit him with saving more human lives than any other person in history."
These are the words of Bruce Alberts, former President, National Academy of Sciences, USA.

The 'him' he mentioned here is Norman Borlaug who is considered as the father o green revolution. He was one of the only 5 people who won Nobel Prize, Presidential medal of Freedom, Congressional gold Medel. He also won Padma Vibhuhan, the second highest civilian medal in India. According to the report from Times,
"Many experts say that he averted a widely predicted global famine in the second
half of the 20th century and saved up to a billion lives."
He helped Mexico, which imported much of her required food to became self sufficient. Later accepting the request from M.S Swaminathan, then adviser to the agricultural minister, Government of India, he along with Dr. Robert Glenn Anderson came to India and averted an expected famine. The program helped India to become self-sufficient in food production and resulted in what later known as 'The Green Revolution'.

Famines of India are most notorious. In the 'Unseen world and other essays' John Fiske writes about Bengal Famine of 1770 in which 10mn people died as,
"Throughout the entire course of recorded European history, from the remote times of which the Homeric poems preserve the dim tradition down to the present moment, there has occurred no calamity at once so sudden and of such appalling magnitude as the famine which in the spring and summer of 1770 nearly exterminated the ancient civilization of Bengal. It presents that aspect of preternatural vastness which characterizes the continent of Asia and all that concerns it. The Black Death of the fourteenth century was, perhaps, the most fearful visitation which has ever afflicted the Western world. But in the concentrated misery which it occasioned the Bengal famine surpassed it, even as the Himalayas dwarf by comparison the highest peaks of Switzerland. It is, moreover, the key to the history of Bengal during the next forty years"
To see the list of famines- Famines.

Not only in India, in Pakistan, Mexico many Latin American countries, middle east and African countries followed the suit. Borlaug's colleagues developed many rice verities, which later saved millions of life from starvation. From 1950-84 - at the time of Green Revolution food producion increased by a whopping 250%.

Its easy to speech about hungry, easy to write an essay of hundred's of pages but to experience its entirely different. The difference was experienced by millions of people in the history of humanity and shed their life due to starvation. Its from this worst situation Borlaug saved the people.

Sajeev.

Nobel Acceptence speech of Norman Borlung
ASA Luctureship(2007 speech)

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