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60 Years Fighting Hunger… Personal Recollections Norman E. Borlaug

60 Years Fighting Hunger… Personal Recollections Norman E. Borlaug. Borlaug Farm and Boyhood School house. Raised in a Norwegian community in northeast Iowa, on 100-acre mixed crop and livestock farm Attended this one-room school house for the first eight years.

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60 Years Fighting Hunger… Personal Recollections Norman E. Borlaug

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  1. 60 Years Fighting Hunger…Personal RecollectionsNorman E. Borlaug

  2. Borlaug Farm andBoyhood School house • Raised in a Norwegian community in northeast Iowa, on 100-acre mixed crop and livestock farm • Attended this one-room school house for the first eight years.

  3. Mexican Government-Rockefeller Foundation Cooperative Agricultural Program 1943-1960 Multidisciplinary research focus to increase yields and production Train a multidisciplinary corps of young Mexican scientists Get research results to farmers as soon as possible RF staff to work themselves “out of a job”

  4. Shuttle Breeding and Multi-location International Testing Produced the Broadly Adapted Mexican Wheat that Triggered the Green Revolution • Days getting shorter 29º 1,200 Km *Days getting longer 19º * Initial period after sowing

  5. FAO/Rockefeller/Mexican Government Training Program Started in late 1960 Young scientists from North Africa, Near- and Middle-East In-service training in all the disciplines Trainees took HYV semidwarf seed technology back home International multi-location yield nurseries

  6. Wheat Seed Shipments to Asia • 1965: 250 tons to Pakistan; 200 tons to India • 1966: 18,000 tons to India • 1967: 42,000 tons to Pakistan; 21,000 tons to Turkey

  7. Profiles in Courage Malik Khuda Baskh Bucha Minister of Agriculture, Pakistan C. Subramaniam Minister of Agriculture, India

  8. Chinese Leadership Chou En-Lai Prime Minister 1949-76 Deng-Xiaoping Paramount Leader 1978-89 He Kang Minister of Agriculture 1978-90

  9. Green Revolution:Changes in Factors of Production in Developing Countries of Asia FertilizerNutrientCerealWheat Rice Irrigation Use Tractors Productionmillion ha million t millions million t Adoption ofModern varieties M ha / % area 1961 0 / 0% 0 / 0% 87 2 0.2 3091970 14 / 20% 15 / 20% 106 10 0.5 4631980 39 / 49% 55 / 43% 129 29 2.0 6181990 60 / 70% 85 / 65% 158 54 3.4 8582000 70 / 84% 100 / 74% 175 70 4.8 962Source: FAOSTAT, July 2002 and author’s estimated on modern variety adoption, based on CIMMYT and IRRI data.

  10. World Cereal* Production–Areas Saved Through Improved Technology, 1950-2000 CEREAL PRODUCTION 1950 650 million tonnes 2000 1,900 million tonnes 1,800 LAND SPARED1.1 billion ha 1,400 1,000 Million hectares 600 LAND USED 660 million ha 200 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 * Uses milled rice equivalentsSource: FAO Production Yearbooks and AGROSTAT

  11. AgroforestryHara Farms, Haryana Poplar, 50 t/ha/year, 10-year cycle Poplar, mangoes, wheat Locally, 15,000 tons of timber logs a day are converted into ply, wood board, flush doors, etc, in 400 processing facilities over the last 15 years worth US$ 500 million a year

  12. Wildlife Coming Back in the USA

  13. High-Yield Agriculture & Forestry Will Help Protect African Wildlife

  14. Africa is the Greatest Worry High population growth, even with AIDS 200 million hungry and malnourished people Declining soil fertility and little application improved technology Rural isolation—lack of roads and transport Poor education and health services

  15. Lack of Infrastructure Is Killing Africa Kilometers of paved roads per million people in selected countries Km KmUSA 20,987 Guinea 637France 12,673 Ghana 494Japan 9,102 Nigeria 230Zimbabwe 1,586 Mozambique 141South Africa 1,402 Tanzania 114Brazil 1,064 Uganda 94India 1,004 Ethiopia 66China 803 Congo, DR 59Source: Encyclopedia Britannica, 2002

  16. Mali Burkina Faso Eritrea Guinea Sudan Nigeria Ethiopia Togo Benin Ghana Uganda Malawi Tanzania Active Concluded Zambia Mozambique Sasakawa-Global 2000 Program Started in 1986 At present covers 10 countries in eastern, central and western Africa.

  17. SG 2000 Demonstration Plots • Moderate amounts of fertilizer • Improved varieties • Good stands • Timely planting & weeding

  18. Demontration PlotsNational Average 6 5 4 3 2 1 Sasakawa-Global 2000 Maize Demonstration Yields t/ha 0 Ghana Nigeria* Mozambique Uganda Ethiopia* Malawi* Mali/ Burkina Faso * Primarily using hybrids

  19. Quality Protein Maize (QPM) A Non-GMO Forerunner • Opaque-2 gene—Purdue University discovery (1963) • – high lysine • – high tryptophan • CIMMYT Conversion from soft to hard grain at CIMMYT (1970-78) • Need to manage the opaque-2 gene in seed production

  20. Conservation Tillage • Saves labor • Restores organic • matter • Controls weed • Reduces erosion • Conserves moisture

  21. BIOTECHNOLOGYAND FOOD Controversy over Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)We’re all related—what does “Foreign DNA” really mean?Mother nature is also a biotechnologist !

  22. GMOs for 21st Century Insect and Disease Resistance Herbicide Resistance Nutritional Quality Abiotic Stresses Genetic Yield Potential

  23. Bt Cotton • 7 million ha around the world; 4 million small farmers • Excellent control of boll worm • Major reduction in insecticide use • Substantial reductions in poisoning of farmers • Significant increase in farmer profits

  24. My “Biotechnology Dreams” Transfer rice’s immunity to the rusts (Puccinia spp.) to other cereals—wheat, maize, sorghum, barley, etcTransfer bread wheat’s proteins—gliadin and glutenin—for making superior dough for leavened bread to other cereals, especially rice and maize

  25. Dark Clouds Gathering in World Wheat Economy Per capita production declining since 1997 International germplasm exchange & testing declining New disease threats emerging, e.g. stem rust

  26. Soybean Rust Epidemic • Two species; Asian type most aggressive • 2001—Only small area in South America infected • 2003—Brazilian producers lost US$ 1.3 billion (lost yield and fungicides) • 2004—Expected to affect most regions of South America • 2005-06—Expected to reach North America • Could cause US$ 4.5 billion in damage to U.S. soybean crop

  27. Need to Restore Public Research Funding • Green Revolution was the result of “public goods” research and investment • Biotechnology is primarily driven by the private sector • Maintaining a balance between public and private research is essential and healthy • Public institutions focus on problems of the poor, help prepare future scientists, and help assure that the public interest is protected.

  28. Agriculture and Peace Only 8% of countries with the lowest levels of hunger are mired in conflict56% of countries with highest levels of hunger have civil conflictWorld military budgets in 2004 exceed US$ 900 billion annually (USA accounts for 56% of total)In 2000, international donor support to agriculture reached lowest level in history

  29. CUTTING ADULT ILLITERACY Male 320 million Female 550 million TOTAL = 870 million people + 120 million primary school age children not in school

  30. “You Cannot Build Peace on Empty Stomachs.” John Boyd Orr Nobel Peace Laureate First FAO Director General

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