Plant Scientist Norman Borlaug Dies, Having Saved a Billion Lives

Norman Borlaug died on Saturday, having developed new plant breeding techniques that vastly increase yields and use less land, saving millions of lives from famine in the 1960s He's one of only five people who has won the Nobel Prize, the Congressional Gold Medal, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom — alongside Martin Luther King, Jr., Elie Wiesel, Nelson Mandela, and Mother Teresa.

He walked away from well-paid jobs to help Mexican farmers, but his techniques may have displaced small farmers and "encouraged overreliance on chemicals and paved the way for greater corporate control of agriculture" explains the New York Times' obit. Critics further explained that “in perceiving nature’s limits as constraints on productivity that had to be removed, American experts spread ecologically destructive and unsustainable practices worldwide.”

These criticisms get to the core of a contemporary debate: Is the answer to starvation to produce more food, and grow the population further? Are the two linked? Quite simply, improving food technology is not enough. Borlaug appreciated the need to stabilize population growth all through his career, saying "there can be no lasting solution to the world food problem until a more reasonable balance is struck between food production and human population growth." He ensured that whatever happened, he'd do his best to make sure those who were hungry would be fed — even if this meant using biotechnology. He is remembered as a man who saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived.

[Photo credit: IRRI Images]