Superheros do exist. And they come from Iowa. I can't remember when I first heard of Norman Borlaug, but I do remember being blown away by the magnitude of just what the man had accomplished- But how's this for a statistic: Norman Borlaug is credited with saving more lives than anyone else in human history. Yes, you did, in fact, read that correctly. More lives than anyone else in human history.
How'd he do it? Well, he helped developed dwarf wheat in the late 60s which sparked something called 'The Green Revolution' that knocked down predictions of global famine that were being made by proponents of Malthus at the time, such as Paul Ehrlich. The dwarf wheat the Borlaug helped developed was resistant to a wide spectrum of plant diseases and pests and produced two to three times the normal yield of grain. That statistic alone helped explode wheat production in the developing world.
In Pakistan, wheat yields rose from 4.6 million tons in 1965 to 8.4 million in 1970. In India, they rose from 12.3 million tons to 20 million. And the yields continue to increase. In 2008, India harvested a record 78.5 million tons of wheat.
Appropriately, Borlaug would go on to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in 1970- and the World Food Prize Institute, which is based out of Des Moines continues his work today.
Not enough people know about what this guy did, in my book- it's a staggering achievement that will probably never be matched ever again. Population experts in the late 60s were predicting decades of catastrophic global famine as the world's population continued to increase- Dr. Borlaug took this predictions and turned them on their head. India since 1968 has doubled it's population, quadrupled its wheat production and has one of the strongest economies in the developing world that's growing at a brisk clip.
A great achievement from a great Iowan. We should all be proud.
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