network of research and training centres and programmes
Issue 19: September 2002
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UNU Update | |
| The newsletter of United Nations
University and its network of research and training centres and programmes |
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Issue 19: September 2002 |
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deliver U Thant lecture The scientist credited with saving more
lives than any other person in history will deliver the fourth U
Thant Distinguished Lecture at UNU Centre, Tokyo, on October 1. Dr
Norman E. Borlaug, who won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize winner for his work
on high-yield wheat, will discuss "Agriculture and Peace: The Role of
Science and Technology in Feeding Humankind in the 21st Century."
Dr. Borlaug joined the Rockefeller Foundation's technical assistance
programme in Mexico in 1944 as a research scientist in charge of wheat
improvement. For the next 16 years, he worked to solve problems that were
limiting wheat cultivation. It was on the research stations and farmers'
fields of Mexico that he developed high yielding wheat varieties that were
disease resistant and could grow under a variety of climatic conditions.
These wheat types and improved crop management practices became known the
“Green Revolution”. Today, the wheat varieties Dr. Borlaug and his colleagues developed are
grown on more than 75 million hectares worldwide. Since 1960, world wheat
production has increased from 300 to 650 million tons, saving hundreds of
millions of people from starvation.
Dr. Borlaug has been honored by scores of governments, universities,
scientific associations, farmers' groups and civic associations. He holds
50 honorary doctorate degrees, belongs to the academies of science in 12
nations, has served on two US Presidential Commissions and was the driving
force behind the establishment of the World Food Prize in 1985. As leader
of the Sasakawa Global 2000 agricultural program in sub-Saharan Africa, he
has worked with several million farmers in 15 countries of sub-Saharan
Africa to increase food production.
The U Thant Distinguished Lecture Series, named after the former UN
Secretary–General, was created to provide a forum for dialogue among the
world’s greatest thinkers, addressing the twenty–first century’s
most pressing issues. Previous speakers include former US president Bill
Clinton and South African President Thabo Mbeki. Members of the public are welcome to attend Dr. Borlaug's lecture,
which starts at 10:30 am in the UN University’s U Thant International
Conference Hall. |
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Copyright © 2002 United Nations University. All rights reserved. |
