WORLD FOOD PRIZE- The Nobel Prize For Food And Agriculture
The Indian-American soil scientist Dr Rattan Lal is declared as the winner of the World Food Prize 2020. The award is being given on the 16th of October. The day is declared by the United Nations as the UN World Food Day. Dr Lal is credited for developing the soil- centric approach to increase the food production that helps in restoration and in the conservation of the natural resources and reduces the impact of climate change. His approach is adopted by the United Nation Climate Change in three different conferences. In the year 2007, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Inter-Governmental Panel On Climate Change. He was among the co-recipients. Dr Lal became the second alumni of Punjab Agriculture University to win this award. The first recipient was Dr Gurudev Singh Khush in 1996.
The World Food Prize was instituted in the year 1986 by a Nobel Laureate, agronomist Dr Norman Ernest Borlaug, the “Father Of The Green Revolution”. The idea behind the award is the felicitate those scientists who improved the quality and availability of the food. In 1987 the first award was given to the “Father Of The Indian Green Revolution”, Dr M.S. Swaminathan. Since the inception of the award, seven Indians have been awarded.
In the 1960s, Dr Swaminathan, a scientist at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute with the help of Dr Borlaug developed high yielding wheat varieties. He also designed a new methodology to make Indian farmers learned how to effectively increase production by using the combination of the high-yielding wheat varieties, fertilizers, and more efficient farming techniques. His vision transformed India from a “begging bowl” to a “breadbasket”.
THE WORLD FOOD PRIZE- INDIAN WINNERS
YEAR | WINNER | FIELD |
1987 | Dr M.S. SWAMINATHAN | AGRONOMIST AND GENETICIST |
1989 | Dr VERGHESE KURIEN | SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR- THE FATHER OF WHITE REVOLUTION INDIA |
1996 | Dr GURUDEV SINGH KHUSH | AGRONOMIST AND GENETICS |
1998 | Dr B.R. BARWALE | THE FATHER OF INDIAN SEEDS INDUSTRY |
2000 | Dr SURINDER.K. VASAL | GENETICIST AND PLANT BREEDING |
2005 | Dr MODADUGU GUPTA | BIOLOGIST |
2020 | Dr RATTAN LAL | SOIL SCIENTIST |