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Norman Borlaug: Agriculture's ultimate humanitarianDr. Norman Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. Yet, he and his work are still relevant at this time. Dr. Borlaug died last week at age 95, and is being mourned by the agricultural world; but, he should be remembered by mankind, worldwide, for much more than his agronomic achievements. He was the ultimate humanitarian who brought hope as much as he brought food. I was in college when I first heard of his success as a wheat breeder in Mexico, and I am now in my last decade of a normal working life. Dr. Borlaug was a zealot in his belief that a farmer would plant a better seed if you could provide it to him. His frustration in getting higher yielding wheat into developing countries was the resistance from politicians who did not want a change in the status quo. He was rebellious against authority when he thought he was right, which was always, from my observations. In a speech that I attended in Iowa (about four years ago) he said plant breeders of the 1960s did not believe you could grow a crop in one area of the world and plant the seeds in another. He rejected that notion and used his base in Mexico to expand genetics that he then shipped to India and Pakistan. His priority was in getting the seed through customs and into the hands of the farmers in time to plant that year. No one in any government seemed to be as concerned about the immediate needs of their starving people as Dr. Borlaug. He also believed in teamwork and the value of new minds addressing old problems. In every speech and interview I heard and read, he put the work of the team above the work of the individual. If a room had a single student in it, he turned his attention to that person and painted a bright future for them to step into when they finished their education. Dr. Borlaug "walked the walk" as he embraced biotechnology as the science emerged. He never stopped believing in technology as the means to stay ahead of the need for food. He would bash the Endangered Species Act and those who wanted to slow the pace of advancement because it might be damaging the environment. "Species rise and fall that we've never even recognized. That's the way nature works!" He was impatient with everything to his last day of life. Norman Borlaug was an evangelist and would seize any opportunity to get his points into the media and out to the people. He was the speaker at an agricultural conference several years ago when he was a spry man in his 80s. Following the address, several reporters stepped up to the stage and one reporter from Kentucky asked one question. We held out our microphones for over 10 minutes as he took the question and used it to vault into other topics that concerned him. Looking at each other, no one wished to be disrespectful of this Nobel Prize winner so we stood like statues collecting his knowledge. Finally, a lady walked back into the now empty room and loudly scolded us for detaining the good Doctor with our rudeness. He gave us a sheepish look and disappeared with her as he was moved on to another event. We had all felt his enthusiasm and thought the rebuke was worth it. In the late 1990s, I interviewed Dr. Borlaug on AgriTalk. I thought it appropriate to talk about his accomplishments but he would have none of it. He was looking to the future. He gave no credence to the argument that he saved the lives of a billion people by providing them with seeds that increased their harvest by four- fold in only a few short years. He was interested in tomorrow. I made the mistake of asking him: "Dr. Borlaug, how's your health?" I received a very shrill one word answer: "Fine!" No rest, no time to account for past accomplishments, only a great hunger to do what could be done in the remaining years of an extended human lifetime. His legacy will be carried on by the Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture, based at Texas A&M. In Des Moines, we have the headquarters for the World Food Prize which recognizes, with great fanfare, the person, or persons, who carry on the spirit of Dr. Borlaug's work. They range from scientists and engineers, who develop new ways to grow or transport food products, all the way to politicians who champion a free school breakfast program. Millions in corporate and private contributions have been made to provide scholarships and develop a learning center to enshrine his life's work and to keep his spirit alive and growing for many generations to come. Editor's Note: This is Ken Root's 35th year as an agricultural reporter. He grew up on a small farm in central Oklahoma and started his career as a vocational agriculture teacher. He worked in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri as a broadcaster and was the original host of AgriTalk. He has also been the executive director of the National AgriChemical Retailers Association in Washington, D.C. and the National Association of Farm Broadcasters in Kansas City. Ken is now the lead farm broadcaster at WHO and WMT Radio based in Des Moines, Iowa. He has been a columnist for HPJ and Midwest Ag Journal for eight years.
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