How Did Norman Borlaug Contribute To The Green Revolution?

During the 1960’s and 1970’s, many of the world’s overpopulated countries were battling famine. Because of Norman Borlaug’s contribution to wheat production, today’s third world countries are prospering This era was known as the Green Revolution. According to “Freedom from Famine - the Norman Borlaug Story”, Norman Borlaug was a huge factor of the Green Revolution. Growing up on a small farm in Iowa, and barely obtaining a high school education, Borlaug soon became the face of wheat agriculture (Freedom from Famine). Going to college to wrestle, little did he know he would be interested in a lecture based around plant illnesses. As his interests grew, he later joined the Rockefeller Foundation, who sent him to Mexico to help with Mexico’s food crisis (Freedom from Famine). While in Mexico, he discovered the crops were dying of rust, which could spread from plant to plant quickly (Freedom from Famine). Furthermore, Mexican farmers were using the soil over and over again (Freedom from Famine). Since they used the same soil, all the

In another study done by Oregon state College, “chemical pesticides have become the most important consciously-applied form of pest management”. When pesticides were first introduced into the equation, many of them were either too toxic or not effective. There were some positives to the pesticides. For example, it killed most insects and had no toxicity to mammals. It did not get washed away by water easy and it didn't break down. Last but not least, it was cheap so even the poorer farmers could obtain the pesticides. The second form of protection for the plants was by using herbicides. As stated by Science Daily, “Selective herbicides kill certain targets while leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed.” Although some crops produce their own herbicides, most do not and need protection other than