Richard J. Zeyen, Emeritus Professor of Plant Pathology
Norman Borlaug, one of the University of Minnesota
Department of Plant Pathology’s most distinguished alumni, passed away at his
home in Dallas, Texas, on September 12, 2009. He was 95. Born in 1914 on a farm near Cresco,
Iowa, he came to the University of Minnesota in 1933 as an undergraduate. He
attracted the attention of another distinguished plant pathologist, Professor
Elvin C. Stakman, during a Big Ten Wrestling match. Stakman, Chief of the
Division of Plant Pathology, admired Borlaug’s dedication, mental toughness and
persistence. He secretly wished
for plant pathology graduate students possessing these qualities. In turn, a seminar given by Stakman about
rust diseases of cereal plants greatly impressed Norman Borlaug . After
earning a B.S. degree in forestry, Borlaug got the courage to approach Stakman
about pursuing graduate education and was later accepted into the plant
pathology graduate program. His
graduate advisors were two of Stakman’s former students, Professor Clyde M.
Christensen and Jonas J. Christensen.
With Clyde Christensen he researched box elder wood deterioration and received
his M.S. (1941). With Jonas
Christensen he researched flax wilt for his Ph.D. (1942). Both box elder wood deterioration and
flax wilt were caused by Fusarium fungi.
In 1941, the Rockefeller
Foundation hired Stakman and a team of scientists to determine what could be
done to make Mexico self-sufficient in food production. After spending months touring Mexico,
they recommended a trial agricultural assistance program in conjunction with
the Mexican government. Stakman
was asked to find the best person to head this joint Rockefeller/Mexico
program. He recommended his former
graduate student, Dr. J. George Harrar.
Later, in 1943, when the fledgling program needed a wheat pathologist
and breeder, Harrar and Stakman recruited Borlaug, even though Borlaug had no experience
with wheat. Nonetheless, they knew
that Borlaug was the man for the
job. They persuaded him to leave
his position with E.I. DuPont du Demours & Co., which Borlaug had taken
while writing his Ph.D. dissertation.
In 1944, Borlaug started the “Mexican Wheat Program” at a very primitive
experiment station near Chapingo, Mexico.
The station was in such disrepair that Borlaug often questioned his
decision to leave DuPont.
Nevertheless, in true Norman Borlaug fashion and against all odds, he
persevered.
Borlaug knew the greatest constraint to wheat production in
Mexico was stem rust disease. It
would do little good to breed wheat only to have it destroyed by this
fungus. Thus, breeding for stem
rust resistance was given highest priority. He taught his Mexican assistants how to make crosses and
breed wheat. They collected stem
rust resistant wheat from any source they could find. Together, they made thousands and thousands of crosses
during the summers in the poor soils and high elevations of Chapingo. They
repeated the breeding and selection efforts in the winter under irrigation in
the relatively fertile soils at Obregon.
This revolutionary high volume “shuttle breeding” tactic yielded two
generations of wheat per year. It
greatly speeded their progress in identifying rust resistant materials. Eventually they produced stem rust
resistant plants that could thrive across distinctly different locations. Surprisingly, and in contrast to the
dogma of the time, the plants also had little day length sensitivity. However, when fertilized, these new
wheat grew tall and often fell over in high winds and rain.
So, beginning in 1954 Borlaug initiated crosses with dwarf
wheat from Japan. The progeny were
short, had stiff straw, were high yielding and had excellent disease
resistance. Seeds from the Rockefeller/Mexico
program wheat were grown in farmer’s fields side-by-side with traditional
varieties. Farmers saw what could
happen in their own fields and rapidly adopted the new varieties. The seed for the improved wheat
varieties was freely given to anyone who requested it or who visited the
Mexican Program . Soon, production of dwarf Mexican wheat
varieties spread throughout Mexico and into Latin America. At the same time, a new race of stem
rust called 15b had formed in Iowa.
Race 15b exploded on the North American Great Plains causing
catastrophic losses. In response,
Borlaug teamed with scientists from Canada and the United States to introduced
durable resistance to race 15b into many regional wheat varieties and into
Borlaug’s Mexican wheat backgrounds.
By 1959, Borlaug thought his mission was finished. Mexico’s wheat production had
quadrupled and Mexico was self-sufficient in wheat. He and his colleagues had educated and trained Mexican
replacements. They began
considering other career options.
But, raging famines in Pakistan and India soon became a new target for
the "hunger fighters."
As it turned out, the new
Mexican wheat would perform well in Pakistan. Borlaug and the Rockefeller
Foundation “Mexican Project” team were asked to help repeat the model from
Mexico, so that Pakistan and India could also become self-sufficient in wheat
production. The Ford Foundation
joined the Rockefeller Foundation in this effort along with the governments of
Pakistan and India. They used the
Mexican Program as a template. Within a few years Pakistan and India tripled
wheat production, reaching the goal of self-sufficiency.
The “Mexican Program” model was then used to form the
International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. Soon, other international
crop research centers were formed around the world. An unprecedented agricultural revolution had occurred. This revolution featured both improved
crop plants and graduate level agricultural education. The achievements in applied biology and
education, coupled with the coming together of worldwide support for
international crop improvement centers was popularly described as the “Green
Revolution.”
The Green Revolution passed
unnoticed in affluent countries like the United States, but in underdeveloped
countries it literally changed people’s lives. The Green Revolution saved millions from starvation, disease
and social unrest and brought a degree of prosperity to countries and regions
formerly considered hopeless. In
1965 the Rockefeller Foundation requested that Stakman and two of his original
Mexican survey team of Richard Bradfield (Cornell, University) and Paul
Mangelsdorf (Harvard, University) document the Green Revolution. Stakman spearheaded the effort and in
their 1967 book, Campaigns Against Hunger, they detailed the foundations of the Green Revolution.
The Green Revolution attracted the attention of the Nobel
Peace Prize Committee. They believed that it had helped millions escape famine
and misery and averted wars and social upheaval. The Committee searched for a representative of this
international effort to receive the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize. They chose Norman Borlaug.
Borlaug always acknowledged all who contributed their talents to this vast undertaking. In his 1970 Nobel Lecture he stated:
“When the Nobel Peace
Prize Committee designated me the recipient of the 1970 award for my
contribution to the "green revolution", they were in effect, I
believe, selecting an individual to symbolize the vital role of agriculture and
food production in a world that is hungry, both for bread and for peace. I am
but one member of a vast team made up of many organizations, officials,
thousands of scientists, and millions of farmers - mostly small and humble -
who for many years have been fighting a quiet, oftentimes losing war on the
food production front.”
Borlaug also clearly
understood that without curbs on human reproduction that gains in agriculture
would not solve every societal ill and would buy only a few decades of time. In his lecture he went on to state:
“We must recognize the fact that adequate food is
only the first requisite for life. For a decent and humane life we must also
provide an opportunity for good education, remunerative employment, comfortable
housing, good clothing, and effective and compassionate medical care. Unless we
can do this, man may degenerate sooner from environmental diseases than from
hunger.
"And yet, I am optimistic for the future of
mankind, for in all biological populations there are innate devices to adjust
population growth to the carrying capacity of the environment. Undoubtedly,
some such device exists in man, presumably Homo
sapiens, but so far it has not asserted itself to bring into balance
population growth and the carrying capacity of the environment on a worldwide
scale. It would be disastrous for the species to continue to increase our human
numbers madly until such innate devices take over. It is a test of the validity
of sapiens as a species epithet.”
By way of his scientific, technological and political
pursuits, Norman Borlaug, a farm boy from Iowa, became a citizen of the
world. He was a determined voice
and tireless advocate for the impoverished and disadvantaged. He worked with world leaders and other
Nobel recipients to eliminate hunger through agricultural programs for
subsistence farmers and to promote universal education. In his 70’s, when most scientists
retire, he rejected the urge and teamed with former President Jimmy Carter to
bring the benefits of the knowledge they learned as Nobel Peace Prize
recipients to the problem of poverty and hunger in Africa. In this effort Borlaug was urged to
continue even into his 90’s and received encouragement and support from the
Japanese industrialist and philanthropist Ryoichi Sasakawa.
In 1999 a new family of pathogenic wheat stem races rust
arose in the wheat-growing region of Uganda (Ug99). Shockingly, these could overcome the
genetic resistance base of Green Revolution wheat and had the potential to
attack over 70% of the world’s cultivated wheat. Stakman’s early euphemism of
rust as a ‘shifty enemy’ rang true again.
Borlaug used his influence to bring a revival of attention to this
familiar threat to world wheat production. The international complacency that had followed the success
of the Green Revolution began to lift.
Borlaug’s last thoughts and utterances concerned the plight of African
farmers. He never ceased to be the
voice of the hungry and impoverished of the world.
In the years preceding his death, Borlaug was often honored for his lifetime of service and sacrifice. He humbly accepted awards, like the Congressional Gold Medal below, and used his visibility to continue to be the voice for those that have no voice.
The world’s respect for Norman Borlaug and what he and those
involved with the Green Revolution accomplished cannot be over stated. He is held in the highest esteem. He joined Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela,
Elie Wiesel and Martin Luther King Jr., as the only five people in history to
have been awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold
Medal.
The world has lost one of its greatest heroes, but let us
find inspiration in the knowledge that one person can make a difference in the
lives of so many.
University of Minnesota alumnus and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman E. Borlaug passed away on September 12, 2009. Additional information about his life and legacy can be found here, on the CFANS website.
Thanks go out to these stellar librarians and volunteers for undertaking this herculean feat. Susan thoroughly read each issue, caught misspellings and name changes, and assembled a very comprehensive index, complete with card catalog. The Aurora Index is certainly an invaluable resource for illuminating of the department's history.
Take a look at the programs and photos from the APS legacy tour and recognition luncheon for Richard Zeyen, emeritus faculty and the signing of Dr. John Dueck memorial scholarship fund.
Donations can be sent to: CFANS—Department of Plant Pathology University of Minnesota Development Office 235 Skok Hall 2003 Upper Bulford Circle St. Paul, MN 55108.
Centennial
Celebration!
...was a success! Thank you to those of you who were able to join us in celebrating the Department's 100th Birthday. Presentations, photos, donor list from the Centennial Celebration.
About Plant Pathology
Plant pathology is a branch of biological
science focused on the diagnosis, management, and prevention of plant
disease.
Research in plant
pathology covers all levels of
biological organization from molecules to ecosystems. Plant pathology
interfaces with all applied plant sciences, biochemistry, botany,
entomology,
ecology, genetics, and physiology.
Students in
the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Minnesota
can choose areas of study and design a program that fits their
interests and
career goals.
