Saturday, March 26, 2005
Happy Birthday to Norman Borlaug , Father of the Green Revolution
Yesterday was Norman Borlaug's 91st birthday and he seems to still be going strong. So a belated 'Happy Birthday' to the father of the Green Revolution. This article on Social Entrepreneurs credits him with A Billion Lives Saved , for his pioneering biotechnology work and life long efforts in feeding the world through application of modern technology.
I'm not sure of the definition of "Social Entrepreneur", so I'll substitute my view of what makes Borlaug exceptional. Seeing things differently than the convential wisdom seems characteristic of genius and madness; the ability to demonstrate clearly and rationally the accuracy of one's insight is a good discriminant; the ability to transform the insight into widespread practice is entrepreneural. As an example, Bob Metcalfe is a technology pioneer for his invention of Ethernet and an entrepreneur for founding 3Com to produce and market it. He credits his and ethernet's success to the years of intense marketing and application.
Borlaug experienced the Dust Bowl in Iowa. "However, counter to the popular mythology about the Dust Bowl as the creation of "excessive technological resources" applied to agriculture, Borlaug surmised that it was actually the result of insufficient application of technology. He noticed that in places where techniques of high yield agriculture were being systematically applied, Dust Bowl conditions never developed with the same severity."
This inspired him to work on developing advanced crop production techniques, including a breed of dwarf wheat that resisted pests and disease while yielding 2-3 times more grain than normal. This technology was adopted by India and Borlaug worked with farmers in India and Pakistan to cultivate the wheat properly. The result was what is now called the "Green Revolution". Borlaug has pursued a great deal of field work in different parts of the world to assure the application of technology brings food to people. His career exhibits the blending of theory and practice that seems characteristic of entrepreneurs, engineers and others who accomplish things in the real world.
Of course, accomplishment on this scale does not go without opposition and there are many who feel that genetic modification of crops should be halted or greatly constrained. It is doubtful that their views would be shared by those alive because of these foods. For more information and a wide variety of links on this topic , check this older article from Reason Breaking Issue: GM Foods .
I'm not sure of the definition of "Social Entrepreneur", so I'll substitute my view of what makes Borlaug exceptional. Seeing things differently than the convential wisdom seems characteristic of genius and madness; the ability to demonstrate clearly and rationally the accuracy of one's insight is a good discriminant; the ability to transform the insight into widespread practice is entrepreneural. As an example, Bob Metcalfe is a technology pioneer for his invention of Ethernet and an entrepreneur for founding 3Com to produce and market it. He credits his and ethernet's success to the years of intense marketing and application.
Borlaug experienced the Dust Bowl in Iowa. "However, counter to the popular mythology about the Dust Bowl as the creation of "excessive technological resources" applied to agriculture, Borlaug surmised that it was actually the result of insufficient application of technology. He noticed that in places where techniques of high yield agriculture were being systematically applied, Dust Bowl conditions never developed with the same severity."
This inspired him to work on developing advanced crop production techniques, including a breed of dwarf wheat that resisted pests and disease while yielding 2-3 times more grain than normal. This technology was adopted by India and Borlaug worked with farmers in India and Pakistan to cultivate the wheat properly. The result was what is now called the "Green Revolution". Borlaug has pursued a great deal of field work in different parts of the world to assure the application of technology brings food to people. His career exhibits the blending of theory and practice that seems characteristic of entrepreneurs, engineers and others who accomplish things in the real world.
Of course, accomplishment on this scale does not go without opposition and there are many who feel that genetic modification of crops should be halted or greatly constrained. It is doubtful that their views would be shared by those alive because of these foods. For more information and a wide variety of links on this topic , check this older article from Reason Breaking Issue: GM Foods .
