Henry Beachell

Henry Monroe Beachell ( born September 21, 1906 in Waverly, Nebraska, † 13 December 2006 in Alvin, Texas ) is an American agricultural scientist with the development of " miracle rice" ( "miracle rice " ) was instrumental in the so-called Green Revolution helped and saved billions of people from starvation.

Henry Monroe ( " Hank " ) Beachell was born in Waverly / Nebraska, the second of seven children of William Albert and Alice Leona Degler Beachell. His family moved to a corn and wheat farm in western Nebraska. In 1930 Beachell completed a degree in agronomy from the University of Nebraska, in 1934 he received from Kansas State University with a master's degree.

1931 Henry Beachell began his research at the Agricultural Research and Extension Center of the Ministry of Agriculture of the United States (USDA -ARS ) in Beaumont / Texas. In the ARS, it was a research facility of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which worked closely with the Texas A & M University. During his time at ARS Beachell bred a total of nine high -yielding long-grain rice varieties, boosting the results of the rice crops rapidly in the USA, at the same time improving quality. Beachell undertook during this period, numerous study trips in the rice-growing areas of India, Central and South America, the Texas Rice Improvement Association called into life - a private foundation to support rice research at Texas A & M University.

In 1963 Henry Beachell finished his work at the ARS and began at the International Rice Research Institute ( IRRI) in Laguna in the Philippines to conduct research. Beachell tried to develop that was resistant to diseases and pests, responded well to fertilizer, and would bring high yields at an early maturity rice. So he crossed Taiwanese with Indonesian rice varieties and by further selection and development he succeeded in 1966 with the breeding of IR8 ( International Rice type 8) of the breakthrough. With the new rice harvest yields of 6 to 8 tons per hectare could be achieved in trial fields in several Asian countries - which corresponded to a doubling of previous income. At the same time - due to shortened growing and ripening time - be harvested more often than before. Because of these amazing results and the consequent opportunity to improve the food supply in Asia decisively, the IR8 was soon called " miracle rice" ( "miracle rice "). Beachell constantly developed the IR8 rice variant in the following years, made ​​them more resistant to diseases, pests, and adaptable to different growing regions.

In 1972 Beachell left the IRRI office in the Philippines and resumed his work at an IRRI office in Indonesia. Again, his work showed striking effect: the rice production in Indonesia increased by approximately 100 percent. In 1982 he returned to the United States and was a consultant at RiceTec. RiceTec Inc. in Alvin / Texas is a company that specializes in the breeding, development, production, processing and marketing of high-quality hybrid rice varieties. The company has its own research center and sells its products in more than 20 000 supermarkets throughout North America. Since 1997 he worked - in cooperation with Cornell University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it set up a rice genome database for rice breeders.

For his research, Henry Beachell received numerous awards:

In 1969 he had the John Scott Medall and the premium of the City of Philadelphia got bestowed in 1972 was followed by the IRRI Award. The governments of Korea and Japan signed him in 1978 and 1987 ( Japan Prize ) from. The Kansas State Medallion Award he received in 1998, and his honorary doctorate from the University of Nebraska and the Seoul National University was awarded.

However, the most important ceremony was the presentation of the World Food Prize, the Henry Beachell got together with his former co-workers at IRRI, Gurdev S. Khush the Indians, in 1996. With the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman Ernest Borlaug created by the price people are excellent, have provided special services for improving the quality, quantity or availability of food. Beachell has numerous scholarships to the University of Nebraska, Kansas State University and Texas A & M University established with the funds of the doped with $ 250,000 World Food Prize to promote young scientists.

Dr. Henry Monroe Beachell died on December 13, 2006 in Alvin, Texas, USA at the age of 100 years.

  • Americans
  • Agricultural Economist ( 20th century)
  • Plant breeders
  • Support of the Japan Prize
  • Born in 1906
  • Died in 2006
  • Man
Alvin (Texas) University of Nebraska system Laguna (province)
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