For what green revolution did Norman Borlaug win the Nobel Peace Prize? Detailed answer

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For what green revolution did Norman Borlaug win the Nobel Peace Prize? Detailed answer

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For what green revolution did Norman Borlaug win the Nobel Peace Prize?

In the middle of the XNUMXth century, a huge amount of mineral fertilizers was used in agriculture, but existing plant varieties could not effectively transform them into a grain crop.

Due to the high concentrations of nutrients in the soil, cereals grew rapidly, gained green mass, and then fell down, which significantly reduced threshing. At the same time, the yield index (the ratio of the weight of grain to the total weight of the ground mass) was well below 50 percent, that is, straw and leaves turned out to be the main product (even in terms of dry matter).

To combat lodging, the American breeder Norman Ernest Borlaug, who worked at the International Center for the Improvement of Corn and Wheat Varieties (Mexico City), suggested using plants with a short stem. The trait of a short stem is quite simply genetically controlled and easily transmitted through hybridization. The semi-dwarf varieties obtained by Borlaug also form a large ground mass, but at the expense of high tillering, do not lodge and give a good harvest with an index of about 50 percent.

In addition, these varieties provide more efficient use of fertilizers. Plants of ordinary varieties first accumulate nitrogen compounds in the green mass, and then, after flowering, they transfer them to grains. Short-stemmed varieties are distinguished by the fact that they restore and transfer nitrogen until seed filling is completed. Their assimilation of nitrogen from the soil lasts much longer and leads to greater productivity.

Thanks to the Green Revolution, Mexico tripled wheat production in 15 years (it took Europe 150 years to achieve a similar increase) and turned from a major grain importer into a grain exporter.

Author: Kondrashov A.P.

Random interesting fact from the Great Encyclopedia:

Why was the moon only half known for a long time?

For a long time, the study of the Moon was limited only to telescopic observations. One astronomer said that the lunar surface is a book from which one can read its history. Such a "book" does exist, but until 1959 about half of its pages were inaccessible to humans.

The fact is that the Moon, completing one complete revolution around the Earth in about 28 Earth days, manages to make only one revolution around its own axis in the same time, moreover, in the same direction. Therefore, the same part of the lunar ball is facing the Earth.

In 1959, the Soviet automatic station Luna-3 photographed the invisible side of the lunar surface for the first time. To date, the invisible hemisphere of the Moon has been photographed many times, even its detailed maps have been compiled.

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