A biography for Norman Borlaughasn’t been written yet.
“It's a free society. But don't tell the world that we can feed the present population without chemical fertilizer. That's when this misinformation becomes destructive.”
“Man's survival, from the time of Adam and Eve until the invention of agriculture, must have been precarious because of his inability to ensure his food supply.”
“Pricing water delivery closer to its real costs is a necessary step to improving use efficiency.”
“Food is the moral right of all who are born into this world.”
“Plant diseases, drought, desolation, despair were recurrent catastrophes during the ages - and the ancient remedies: supplications to supernatural spirits or gods.”
“Clearly, we need to rethink our attitudes about water and move away from thinking of it as nearly a free good and a God-given right.”
“Unless there is one master gene for yield, which I'm guessing there is not, engineering for yield will be very complex. It may happen eventually, but through the coming decades, we must assume that gene engineering will not be the answer to the world's food problems.”
“Man seems to insist on ignoring the lessons available from history.”
“Man can and must prevent the tragedy of famine in the future instead of merely trying with pious regret to salvage the human wreckage of the famine, as he has so often done in the past.”
“If the world population continues to increase at the same rate, we will destroy the species.”
“There are no miracles in agricultural production.”