image: Congressional Gold Medal winner, Norman Borlaug stands in a field ripenening wheat in the Yaqui Valley of northern Mexico. this is where he did the pioneering work that led to the Green Revolution. view more
Credit: David Mowbray, CIMMYT
EL BATÁN, Mexico, EMBARGOED TO 17 JULY 10:00AM EASTERN DAYLIGHT -- The man history will honor as the father of a “green revolution” that transformed agriculture in many developing countries in the 1960s has been awarded the highest civilian honor the United States of America can give. The Congressional Gold Medal is reserved for the very few who have made outstanding contributions to either the United States or the world. In presenting the award to Dr Norman Borlaug, the Congress commended his “bringing radical change to world agriculture and uplifting humanity." Calling him a true American hero, the congress said “Dr. Borlaug’s scientific and humanitarian efforts have saved countless people from starvation and hunger while raising standards of living throughout the world.
The Congressional Gold Medal was presented by President George Bush and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi at a ceremony in Washington DC today.
Dr Borlaug began his extraordinary work in Mexico in the 1940s, where with a dedicated team of plant specialists he developed wheats that were more productive and disease resistant than the wheat Mexican farmers grew. As a result, Mexico became self-sufficient in wheat production for the first time. Word of what had been done in Mexico spread to Pakistan and India n the 1960s where grain shortages threatened mass starvation. The wheats from Mexico found a home on the Indian sub-continent and together with the right growing practices resulted in massive gains in the region’s wheat production. Many believe this green revolution saved the lives of up to a billion people. In 1970 Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize for the work—the first time the award had been made for developments in Agriculture.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, known by its Spanish acronym CIMMYT, was created to continue that work and Dr Borlaug was the first Director of the Center’s wheat program. CIMMYT works around the world to help improve the lives of people who depend on wheat or maize (corn) on their family farms.
In accepting the award, Dr Borlaug called on the United States to take a leadership role in funding agricultural research for the developing world. “My plea today to the members of Congress and to the Administration is to re-commit the United States to more dynamic and generous programs of official development assistance in agriculture for Third World nations…,” he said.
Hans-Joachim Braun, the current Director of CIMMYT’s global wheat program attended on the center’s behalf. “It’s hard to over-estimate what Norm Borlaug has done for the world,” says Braun. “Not only has his work improved the lives of millions, the research center that is his greatest legacy continues to build on what he started.”
At 93 years of age Borlaug continues as a passionate activist for the improvement of the agricultural capacity of the rural poor. He still works at CIMMYT as an advisor to the Director General with a special focus on new and dangerous wheat rust diseases.
Borlaug 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 others who have been given Congressional Gold Medal of Honor.