Four Blades of Grass

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In 1863, US Secretary of Agriculture Isaac Newton wrote that "It should be the aim of every young farmer . . . to make two blades of grass grow where but one grew before." From 1863 to 1940, increases in agricultural production were due largely to increases in the acreage cultivated and partially to enhanced production per acre. Since 1940, however, a "green revolution" has occurred in which, through scientific plant breeding methods, production per acre has increased not just two fold as Newton aimed for but four fold so that "four blades of grass grow where but one grew before." Dr. Perkins is continuing his examination of this green revolution and the impact it has had on human social life: globally, we are becoming a species that lives primarily in urban areas with only a minority of people left in production agriculture in the rural areas. This transformation is essentially complete in industrialized countries and is still underway in less industrialized nations. As a science, plant breeding has been fundamentally dependent conceptually upon the genetic theories first proposed by Mendel. In order to function productively, plant breeders were dependent upon insights from statisticians, plant physiologists, soil scientists, plant pathologists, agricultural engineers, and food technologists. Most breeders found their institutional homes in government and university laboratories, but some worked for private companies. Issues of war and national security shaped the political economic context in which plant breeders worked. Events in World War I set the stage for the growth of plant breeding as a national asset. World War II, the demise of colonial empires, and the cold war provided enormous boost to plant breeding as nations sought increased security through enhanced food production. It is now impossible to understand the treatment of plant breeding by political institutions without discussing the strategic implications of the science. Dr. Perkins is examining all these issues in the context of a comparative study of the complexities of the agricultural industry, especially wheat breeding, in Britain,India and the United States. The research is being carried out through examination of primary archival sources, oral interviews and search of the published literature.