A celebration in honor of the Nobel Peace Prize winner is meant to inspire a second Green Revolution
The Borlaug Summit on wheat for food security, was celebrated in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, from the 25th to the 28th March. Simultaneously, a statue was unveiled in Washington D.C. in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of his birth. Norman Borlaug is considered the father of the Green Revolution.
The Summit was organized by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), whose mission is to recall Borlaug’s legacy in famine and undernutrition eradication in Asian, African and American countries. The Center is also aimed at inspiring new generations to continue the American scientist’s innovative work. Mr. Thomas A. Lumpkin, General Director of the CIMMYT, said it was important to invest heavily in agricultural investigation in order to launch a second Green Revolution in accordance with today’s food security challenges. “In order to accomplish this goals, we must increase the food production in 70% by 2050, while trying to reduce the amount of land, water and nutrients used”, Lumpkin said.
Mr. Borlaug, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 and received some of the highest distinctions in the United States, Mexico and India, among other countries, was celebrated for the investigations he started in Mexico in 1944 and that ultimately led him to develop new, more productive, nutritious and disease-resistant types of wheat. As a result of these developments, Mexico became self-sufficient in wheat production in the 1960s.
India, Pakistan, Turkey and some African countries were also benefitted by Borlaug’s work. It is considered that approximately a billion people have profited from the results of his research.
Around 700 people from more than 60 countries will participate in the Borlaug Summit, including leaders from the scientific community, policy makers and representatives from public and private institutions dedicated to agricultural research and development.
Thanks to Mr. Borlaug’s work, the world’s agricultural production has risen from 690 million to almost two billion tons, while using almost the same amount of arable land, thus optimizing available resources.
Grupo Bimbo joins the celebrations and recognizes this important humanist with the launch of a digital platform dedicated to the research Mr. Borlaug did in Mexico, as well as his contributions to the food security system, which can be found in the following website: www.borlaugglobalimpact.com
