Defying Malthus

Few people today would recognize the name Norman Borlaug, but it was his research that helped kick off what has come to be known as the “Green Revolution.” An American agricultural scientist in the 1940s, Borlaug began researching high-yielding varieties of wheat in Mexico. He was tasked with using modern plant-breeding techniques, including induci

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This is not to say that such advancements have not been without controversy. Our technology has often outpaced our understanding of nutrition and diets. So, while we are certainly producing more food than ever, there is some evidence that suggests that much of this food is lower in nutritional quality. Omega-3 fatty acids, for example, are essentia

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The dwarf wheat varieties cultivated by Borlaug were a game changer, as they had several key advantages. First, the shorter stalks were less top-heavy and could support more grain kernels on their end without breaking. Second, because they didn’t grow a long stalk, they required fewer nutrients and less sunlight (albeit more water). This is especia

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Within two years of its introduction in Mexico in 1954, total wheat output in the country doubled. With his success in Mexico, the governments of both India and Pakistan requested his assistance as well. He brought his new wheat varieties to these rapidly growing nations, which helped raise total wheat output by some 60 percent within a similarly s

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Rice: The Other Staple

It didn’t take long for these methods of plant breeding to be applied to the other great stable of human diets: rice. Facing exploding populations in Asia in the early 1960s two American charities, namely the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, formed a partnership called the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the

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