El Batán, Mexico
April, 2007
Source:
CIMMYT E-News, vol 4 no.
4 - April 2007
 Having
just celebrated his 93rd birthday, Dr Norman Borlaug, the man
who was at the heart of the creation of
CIMMYT, visits the Yaqui
Valley to meet his old friends: the farmers with whom he worked
60 years ago, the first beneficiaries of what we call the Green
Revolution in agriculture.
Until you visit Ciudad Obregón, Sonora State, in northwestern
Mexico, it is hard to understand the depth of feeling the
citizens of that region have for Nobel Peace Prize laureate,
Norman Borlaug. Though an American, he lived in the Yaqui Valley
of Sonora State, where Ciudad Obregón is located, for many years
starting in 1947. He and a small research team worked with the
government of Mexico and the Rockefeller Foundation to improve
the nation’s agricultural capacity. Borlaug’s responsibility was
wheat. The Yaqui Valley farmers were poor and wheat a marginal
crop, succumbing regularly to rust diseases; Mexico had to
import 60% of its wheat. Under Borlaug’s leadership, researchers
overcame the rust problem and pioneered the development of
short-statured wheat. Nearly half the new plants’ weight was
grain, and the stems were short and strong enough to stay erect
until harvest. By the 1960s farmers in the valley had improved
food security and incomes.
In recent years, Borlaug’s visits to the Yaqui Valley have been
much less frequent, but the bond between Borlaug and Valley
inhabitants has not diminished. In Ciudad Obregón a major street
is named Avenida Norman Borlaug. He is depicted in a historical
mural in City Hall as a pioneering father. Area hotels have
meeting rooms named after him. When he stepped off the plane
from Texas, where he had undergone medical treatment, airport
staff, fire fighters, and ground crews formed a line from the
steps of the aircraft toward the terminal building. “It wasn’t
quite a red carpet, but it was red carpet treatment,” said
Chris Dowswell,
Borlaug’s Special Assistant.
Clearly the people of the Yaqui Vally have never forgotten. For
decades the farmer organization of Sonora State (known locally
as the Patronato) has provided rent-free land for
experimentation to CIMMYT and INIFAP, the national agricultural
research program of Mexico. The institutes have side-by-side
facilities close to their experimental fields.
A meeting of green-seekers
Borlaug, still a consultant with CIMMYT, is also the President
of the Sasakawa Africa Association, which is devoted to
improving the lives of the rural poor in sub-Saharan Africa. One
of his reasons for visiting Obregón this time was to see and
learn about a technology developed by Oklahoma State University
(OSU) and CIMMYT. The approach allows farmers easily and cheaply
to determine the optimum application of fertilizer for a
developing wheat or maize crop. Fertilizer resources are scarce
in much of Africa, so timely application of the correct amounts
can save farmers money and help produce a better crop.
The technology, known as GreenSeeker, uses a special sensor to
measure infrared and near-infrared light reflected from the
leaves of growing plants. A hand-held computer, programmed with
the data about the crop and location can calculate the nitrogen
status of the plant. Ivan Ortiz-Monasterio, who leads CIMMYT’s
research in nitrogen efficiency, says many Yaqui Valley farmers
can recover the cost of the sensor in a single season through
savings in fertilizer use, but acknowledges the economics on
smallholder farms in Africa are quite different. OSU researchers
are now taking on the challenge of producing a less expensive
model that will work for the rural poor in Africa.
Research: The icing on agriculture’s cake?
In a speech to the farmers, extension workers, and researchers,
Borlaug explained the plight of the resource poor in Africa and
how a technology like the GreenSeeker might make a difference.
In one farmer’s field he was given a demonstration and
explanation of the device and how to use it. One of the messages
that came through loud and clear was this: without research in
agriculture, there would be no progress.
That was what the farmers of the valley learned from Borlaug and
his team more than half a century ago, and they heard it again
when he came back. Today the farmers have passed down their
pride in the original work done at Obregón, first to their
children and now, their grandchildren. At a luncheon at the
CIMMYT research station, students from Colegio Teresiano de la
Vera Cruz in Ciudad Obregón presented Borlaug with a birthday
cake. They had just completed a project for the school’s
cultural week that focused on Borlaug and his work in the Yaqui
Valley. From Borlaug to the people of the Yaqui Valley, and from
the people themselves, it is clear that the commitment made 60
years ago continues. |
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