Norman Borlaug Quotes

A country that cannot feed itself cannot have self-pride, and in the mid-'60s 20 percent of all the wheat produced in America came into India. We were agriculturally a basket case. And 15 years later, 20 years later, we have become an agricultural power. This is the famous Green Revolution.

During the past three years spectacular progress has been made in increasing wheat, rice, and maize production in several of the most populous developing countries of southern Asia, where widespread famine appeared inevitable only five years ago.

The rich agricultural nations are the ones that can adapt to the new biotechnologies.

Concentrate our strength in agriculture and increase our potential.

Agricultural chemistry was not something that could be readily mastered by farmers, nor could the new machines be easily operated and maintained. Agricultural schools were needed to provide the necessary training. Then, if local gentry and rich households with large landholdings tried new methods—and if the new techniques were effective—the people will naturally follow them.

… whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together.

To affordably feed the next billion people, we must have higher-yielding crops with even greater nutritional value. America should be at the vanguard of the innovative advances that will make this happen.

The duty of the individual farmer, at this time, is to increase his production, particularly of food crops.

I think with the needs to feed the world's population, to end starvation, plant sciences offer great opportunities to do good and also to develop industry in St. Louis.

It is obvious that the greatest and most important service that is required of our agriculture under existing conditions is an enlarged production of the staple food crops.

If African farmers can use improved seeds and better practices to grow more crops and get them to market, then millions of families can earn themselves a better living and a better life.

I have been busy working in order to make agriculture a priority sector not on a small scale, but into an agro-based industry.

Consumers cannot enjoy the prices and variety we farmers produce without embracing the technologies we use.

I want for us to be self-sustained so we can export. The government has a responsibility to have agricultural programs so people are able to grow their own food.

There is talk about the need for a second Green Revolution. However, such a revolution is nowhere in sight.

Agriculture can trigger job-led economic growth, provided it becomes intellectually satisfying and economically rewarding.

I was chairman of the steering committee for agriculture when we set up the target of 4% growth rate. I had written that if you want to achieve 4% growth rate in agriculture, you should have 8% growth in animal husbandry and fisheries and 8% in horticulture.

If we estimate dignity by immediate usefulness, agriculture is undoubtedly the first and noblest science.

There is no reason why a company like Monsanto, for example, that is pushing GMOs, cannot go to Kenya, partner with the university, partner with the research institutions, and try to promote - in a responsible way - advanced techniques to help farmers. But this should be done in such a way that the farmers' livelihoods are not undermined because the government is irresponsible or careless, or because it is compromised.

Fertilizer played a greater role in this case than computers.

If I had a wand and could put statues in different places, one of the statues would go to a man who just died, called Norman Borlaug, who came up with the Green Revolution.

When in 1963 we started large-scale research and testing with semi-dwarf varieties of wheat obtained from Mexico through Norman Borlaug, the new plant types attracted media attention immediately.

I had the privilege of knowing and working with Norman Borlaug - who has been aptly described by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee as the greatest hunger fighter of our time - for nearly 50 years.

I want Britain to lead the world in food and farming and to do that we need enough productive agricultural land.

Bayer CropScience aims to lead the way in sustainable crop solutions, and we are heavily investing in R&D, as well as production capacities, to respond to global demand for differentiated crop solutions.