The author of what came to be called the Green Revolution, Norman Borlaug, died last Saturday aged 95. Back in the 1960's countries like India, Pakistan and Mexico were constantly on the brink of famine. Borlaug, an Iowan farmers son, who grew up in the Dirty Thirties of Mid West America had long been concerned at poor farming practices that led to such phenomena and the need to feed the starving millions.
He developed drought resistant strains of cereals that increased yields in dry countries by huge amounts. Some claim he saved the lives of hundreds of millions of people in Developing Countries. For this pioneering humanitarian work he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
But his successes in producing more food around the world involved greater intensification of agriculture and this attracted criticism from environmentalists. Moreover, during the latter part of his life he was vilified by the green movement.
I for one hope that he became aware during his final days of growing concerns over food security and that his work was once again receiving the respect it deserved. For he was a great man of vision and there are many people alive in the world today who would not have survived without his pioneering activities.