By increasing the production of wheat it is said Norman Borlaug has saved more lives than anyone else who ever lived. John Pollock provides a new look at his work in Green Revolutionary:
stem rust, a fungus whose airborne spores infect stems and leaves, shriveling grains.
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Many thought the work that earned ÂBorlaug his Nobel brought an end to stem rust, but it is back, in the form of a variant called Ug99, which emerged in Uganda and spread to Kenya and Ethiopia. “If it continues unchecked,” says Borlaug, “the consequences will be ruinous.”
Related: Five Scientists Who Made the Modern World - More Nutritious Wheat - 2004 Presidential Medal of Science Winners - Deadly wheat disease ‘a threat to world food security’
April 27th, 2008 at 9:16 am
“Today, wheat provides about 20 percent of the food calories for the world’s people. The world wheat harvest now stands at about 600 million metric tons. In the last decade, global wheat production has not kept pace with rising population…”