I mean, he did get a Nobel Prize
Norman Borlaug
Submitted 3 weeks ago by sousmerde_rtrdataire@lemmygrad.ml to science_memes@mander.xyz
https://i.ibb.co/s8KmfPw/cceb88c1-a423-41e0-a95d-db60f751c442.png
Comments
nothingcorporate@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
fossilesque@mander.xyz 3 weeks ago
Comedy is the subversion of the expected.
sousmerde_rtrdataire@lemmygrad.ml 3 weeks ago
Sure, thank you, my autocritic was more directed as the form than the substance, but if you missed that then it’s probably ‘more alright’/‘less amateurish’ than i first thought :)
tetris11@feddit.uk 3 weeks ago
His custom crop boosted yields at a time when the temperature was predictable, and the crop could thrive in the easy narrow conditions they were designed for.
Unfortunately with climate change, the hardier seeds which produce lower yields but can weather more turbulent climates are harder to find because they were pushed out of production by the popularity of his invention.
sga@lemmings.world 2 weeks ago
In India, Punjab Haryana side (north west near pakistan border) were traditionally the bread baskets. But after a crop failures and droughts in 1960s and in 70s, they were experimented here and they were successful - a gree revolution for 10 or so years. But these varieties were very water intensive, and seeing the yields, most farmers just continously year on year did atleast 2 ccrops a year (a winter one (wheat) and a summer (rice)). This made the lands a lot less productive and many parts of the land since then have nearly become barren. 2 crops per year were normal, but it usually was never this intensivem and natural processes to restore the land (artificial or natural fertilisers, or burning parts of previes crops, or tilling) were just not effective. This lead to reduction in output, and today, a lot of youth just can not do farming, either because they do not want to (they have seen/heard of hard times from parents, or just do not have good land left to farming. This is also one of the reasons why a lot of punjabi-haryanvi diaspora is now outside India - many students just did not see a future here, and if their parents had some money from the good times, they sent their children abroad (us and canada makorly).
The intention to improve crop yield was right, but the implementation went wrong, and consequences were not great. We did not have a major famine since. Many other states took the job of producing these crops (either they partially adopted the newer seeds, or just had external investments, and used older stuff in a less intensive manner), but atleast the punjab side region lost a lot.
tetris11@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
well written