AGR 2050 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Nobel Peace Prize, Norman Borlaug
17 Mar 2016
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Document Summary
Procedure using nitrogen and hydrogen gas to produce ammonia. Estimated that fertilizer made by this process sustains 1 third of the worlds population- remainder from nitrogen fixing bacteria. 1776 steam engine made 100 year later leading to mechanized agriculture. The man who saved a billion lives. Due to stress tolerances, fertilizers, photoperiod insensitivity, short growth duration. What changed leading to dramatic increase in yields: effective management practices, high yielding varieties, fertilizers, efficiency in scale. Decrease in diversity due to wide-scale monocropping. Increased use of inputs, less legume cover crops. No success in africa-lack of impact of green revolution in africa. We will have to become more agriculturally productive in africa and asia. Do more with less on the same amount of land. Improves yield potential and decrease gaps in yields, Low input agriculture for breeding in arid and developing areas. Enhance resilience and cropping systems to stress, yield stability.
