Washington, DC
July 11, 2007
Texas
A&M Agriculture's Dr. Norman Borlaug will be presented the
Congressional Gold Medal July 17 for unparalleled efforts at
"bringing radical change to world agriculture and uplifting
humanity," according to the U.S. Congress.
The presentation of the medal, created specifically for Borlaug
at the U.S. Mint, will be at 10 a.m. in the Capital Rotunda.
Borlaug, 93, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 - the first
ever to receive the prize for agricultural efforts - for his
international research which led to wheat varieties that helped
feed millions of starving people. He is distinguished professor
of soil and crop sciences at Texas A&M University where he has
been actively teaching, lecturing and consulting since 1984.
In measures passed by the Senate last September and the House in
December, Borlaug was credited with "saving billions of people
around the world ... (he) saved more lives than any other person
who has ever lived."
"Dr. Borlaug's life-long work in fields throughout the world is
a shining example of the importance of agriculture, not only for
feeding starving people, but for economic and political
stability," said Dr. Elsa Murano, Texas A&M University System
vice chancellor and dean of agriculture and life sciences. "We
are honored to have shared in his work for more than two decades
at Texas A&M, and we applaud this recognition of his legacy."
Borlaug is often called the "Father of the Green Revolution" to
depict the color and quantity of wheat planted in the world as a
result of his development of smaller, easier-to-harvest plants
which were nurtured the fertilizer, water and weed-preventing
chemicals.
"There is no magic in high-yielding seed," Borlaug once said.
"People have to know how to grow, when to plant, how to control
weeds, how to manage water."
He bred a dwarf wheat first in Mexico because the traditional
varieties there grew so tall that the stalks would bend over,
losing the grain heads on the ground. His developments increased
Mexican wheat production sixfold.
From there, Borlaug took the improved varieties to India and
Pakistan in the mid-1960s though scientists then thought those
nations of explosive populations and poor land were a hopeless
cause.
But the effort worked. When Borlaug's work began there, India
produced 11 million metric tons per year. That country now is
the world's second largest producer of wheat and is expected to
bring in 73 million tons this year, according to the Indian
Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Borlaug has continued to work globally, maintaining research in
Mexico each spring and teaching at Texas A&M each fall.
"It's difficult to come back to the United States and talk about
food shortages when we have been blessed throughout history with
abundance," Borlaug recalls.
The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian award given
by the legislative branch of government, bestowed on those who
have made a significant "act of service to the security,
prosperity, and national interest of the United States."
George Washington was the first recipient on March 25, 1776.
Borlaug also joins the ranks of the Wright Brothers, Charles
Lindbergh, Thomas Edison, Dr. Jonas Salk, Mother Theresa of
India, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King and
more than 100 other recipients. |
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