By Arun Kumar, IANS
Washington : Agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug, regarded as the father of the Green Revolution in India, Pakistan and Mexico, has been awarded the US Congressional Gold Medal for his lifelong battle against world hunger.
President George W. Bush was on hand at the Capitol for the presentation of the highest US civilian honour to the 93-year-old Nobel laureate in farming, whose advances helped nearly double food supply in several countries.
Borlaug's efforts date back to the mid-20th century when he developed disease-resistant and high-yield wheat varieties and worked with developing countries to grow the crops with modern farming techniques.
"Norman Borlaug's life has taken him from laboratories in America and Mexico to dusty villages throughout the developing world. He has consulted with presidents and prime ministers in important countries like Pakistan and India," said Bush.
"The most fitting tribute we can offer this good man is to renew ourselves to his life's work, and lead a second Green Revolution that feeds the world, and today we'll make a pledge to do so," he said.
"Hunger continues to cast its measurable shadow across much of the developing world."
In 1970, Borlaug was the first Nobel Peace Prize recipient for work in agriculture. He is one of only five individuals who have been awarded the Nobel Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and now the Congressional Gold Medal. Mother Teresa, Elie Wiesel, Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela are the others.
The Congressional Gold Medal, first given to George Washington in 1776, honours people who have offered outstanding service to the security, prosperity and national interest of the US.