Norman Borlaug, father of agriculture’s “Green Revolution” and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, died this week at age 95. His greatest accomplishment, the fruit of a decade of painstaking labor in the fields of Mexico, was the hybridizing of a high-yielding variety of wheat that grows shorter stalks but produces more grain than previous varieties. This variety was adopted by Mexico, India, and Pakistan, turning these grain importers into exporters. Borlaug also promoted increased use of mechanization, fertilizer, and pesticides. Today an estimated 245 million to 1 billion people are alive as a direct result of Borlaug’s work.
Of course, like any great person, Borlaug had his haters. Environmentalists such as Rachel Carson blasted the Green Revolution for its use of pesticides. Though overuse of pesticides runs the risk of damaging the environment and negating the very benefits they confer, we cannot be blinded to pesticides’ benefits when used in moderation. Other charges leveled against Borlaug include promotion of a monoculture susceptible to disease — a situation we face regardless given that the majority of the world’s calories come from just four staple crops: wheat, rice, corn, and potatoes. Borlaug acknowledged the need for continual improvement while denouncing environmental “elitists” who “never went to sleep hungry.”
Today, thanks to bioengineering, we may be on the verge of another Green Revolution. For example, “Golden Rice,” named for the golden hue conferred by the increased amount of vitamin A, could help reduce blindness in malnourished children. However, some conspiracy theorists, organic farmers, and organizations such as Greenpeace believe genetically modified (GM) crops — which they call “Frankenfoods” — are a conspiracy to decrease the world’s population or an attempt by agribusinesses to establish a monopoly, while religious groups in India and elsewhere see GM crops as a threat to the natural God-given order. The powerful farm lobbyists in Europe prey on such fears to burnish their support of unreasonable subsidies for local farmers who grow certified “natural” crops. Meanwhile, European leaders’ ban on GM crops discourages farmers from America, Africa, and Southeast Asia from adopting these crops. This Luddite resistance has ensured that Golden Rice is still on the shelf 9 years after its creation — not very promising results for an ambitious young scientist looking for a new project.
In fact, humans have been creating “Frankenfoods” for thousands of years, selectively breeding for the biggest and toughest strains of crops. What difference does it make if we accelerate the process by splicing in an extra gene? Environmentalists should welcome any way of increasing agricultural yield from land currently in use, as that would certainly help slow deforestation of the rainforests — not to mention feeding starving children!
Though Borlaug will never have the star power of an Einstein or a Tesla, his work is equally testament to the power of one scientist to change the course of humanity. Though Borlaug’s achievements are remarkable, he predicted that we will still need to double the world’s food supply by 2050. It is up to the next generation of researchers to carry on Borlaug’s ethos of selfless devotion, and to the rest of society to support all scientific endeavors. In the meantime, hats off to one hell of a man.
—Jesse Jones is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at jesse.g.jones@vanderbilt.edu
