Today's featured Wikipedia article, and my first thoughts

[pne]

Norman Borlaug is an American agricultural scientist, humanitarian, Nobel laureate, and the father of the Green Revolution. During the mid-20th century, Borlaug led the introduction of his grain and modern agricultural production techniques to Mexico, Pakistan, and India. As a result, Mexico became a net exporter of wheat by 1963. Between 1965 and 1970, wheat yields nearly doubled in Pakistan and India, greatly improving the food security in those nations. These collective increases in yield have been labeled the Green Revolution, and Borlaug is often credited with saving over a billion people from starvation. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 in recognition of his contributions to world peace through increasing food supply. More recently, he has helped apply these methods of increasing food production to Asia and Africa. Borlaug has continually advocated the use of his methods and biotechnology to decrease world famine; although his work has faced environmental and socioeconomic criticisms, he has repudiated most of those accusations. In 1986, he established the World Food Prize to recognize individuals who have improved the quality, quantity or availability of food around the globe.

And the first thing I thought was, so, this guy brought modern agricultural techniques to some countries, helping them to become self-sufficient, improving food security, and saving millions of people from starvation.

As opposed to people who introduce patented seed into countries and forcing farmers to buy new seed every year since they're not allowed to harvest seed from last year's crop because that seed contains protected IP.

Tell me, which course of action is better for those countries?

Comments

[bluewingedcat.livejournal.com]

Isn't capitolism fucking beautiful?

[pne.livejournal.com]

Big companies and their interests should definitely be able to influence political decisions. It's the only obviously fair way to do things.

[tomato-chan.livejournal.com]

If you read the wiki article on the Green Revolution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution) it says that they are one and the same, and not independent. Part of the "modern agricultural techniques" that you referred to include the use of corporate owned genetically modified foods and also the heavy reliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This of course, includes the use of DDT. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT)

[pne.livejournal.com]

Hm, doesn't sound like "one and the same" to me, more as if selling sterile patented GM seed arose out of the Green Revolution (e.g. "The use of genetic engineering in agriculture to create genetically modified foods is viewed by some as the natural continuation of the Green Revolution.").

That is, what Borlaug did in the middle of the 20th century is, if perhaps not completely, still a bit different from what was done at the end of the century. OSISTM.

[darth-spacey.livejournal.com]

Big companies and their interests do tend to have something of a stabilising influence on the economy. Thousands of America's own food crop growers across the middle of the country fit into that category.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

When you put it that way, who can disagree?