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Indian
Researcher Wins World Food Prize for Hi-Protein Maize
By
VIJI SUNDARAM
 A
researcher who has developed a protein-rich strain of maize to
combat hunger and disease in developing countries has won the World
Food Prize, also described as the Nobel Prize for Agriculture.
Dr. Surinder K. Vasal, 62, will share the $250,000 award with his
colleague, Eva Villegas, 75, head of Mexico's International Maize
and Wheat Improvement Center, or CIMMYT, which is the acronym for
its Spanish name.
The two scientists have over the last three decades refined plant
breeding methods and discovered how a significant amount of proteins
could be added to low-nutrient corn to yield "miracle
maize," known in the scientific community as "quality
protein maize."
Vasal, who lives in Bangkok, could not be reached for a comment as
he was on a work tour of India, but his wife, Shashi Bala, told
India-West earlier this week that her husband was "very happy
to get the prize.
"He dedicated his life to this project," she said.
Dr. Shivaji Pandey, project program director at CIMMYT, said that
Vasal and Villegas's work is especially important to such countries
as Mexico, India and other Asian, Latin American and African
countries where maize, or corn, is the essential food source for the
poor. The grain is widely grown in developing nations. In India, as
in many other countries, it also forms an essential part of animal
feed.
India, in fact, released a high-protein strain of maize called
"Shakti," two years ago, Pandey said, and is currently
evaluating the miracle maize because of its superior qualities.
Scientists believe that the quality protein maize could help save
some of the 10 million children under age five, who suffer from
severe protein deficiency, a condition characterized by swollen
bellies, scaly skin and skinny arms.
And according to the United Nations Development Program, nearly one
billion people in developing countries are malnourished and suffer
from protein deficiency.
"We are ready to spur a revolutionary change in maize
production around the world, where millions of farmers choose
quality protein maize, and better nutrition, for their
families," Punjab-born Vasal said in a CIMMYT press release.
Most maize is deficient in lysine and tryptophan, two essential
amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins.What the two
researchers did was to develop a strain of maize rich in amino
acids, by introducing the so-called opaque-2 gene into the plant.
In the early stages of their research, farmers showed little
interest in the new strain of maize because of its low yields,
chalky-looking grain and susceptibility to pests and diseases,
Pandey told India-West.
But in 1970, with funding from the UNDP, Vasal and Villegas began
the arduous task of breeding maize that retained the good qualities
of the opaque-2 maize, while leaving out the "bad part,"
Pandey said.
Over the years, the scientists had to put their project on the back
burner because of financial constraints. But work was intensified in
the last three years.
Pandey said the miracle maize has double the quantity of lysine and
tryptophan found in ordinary maize. This means, a person has to
consume only half the quantity of normal maize to take care of his
or her nutritional needs.
Economists expect that by 2003, the cultivation of QPM will rise to
3.5 million hectares, or 8.75 million acres, from about one million
hectares, or 2.47 million acres, now under cultivation.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, a member of the World Food Prize
Council of Advisers, said: "Dr. Villegas and Dr. Vasal not only
achieved a remarkable breakthrough on maize quality, but their
efforts to teach and train others . . . are exemplary."
Vasal, who earned a bachelor's degree from Khalsa College in
Amritsar, a master's degree from the Agricultural College in Kanpur
and a doctoral degree from the Indian Agricultural Research
Institute in New Delhi, began his career as a research assistant in
the Department of Agriculture at Dhaulakuan, in Himachal Pradesh.
Then, after a stint as assistant botanist (millets), he became
assistant maize breeder and adjunct assistant professor of botany in
Himachal Agricultural College, in Solan.
Since 1967, he has taken on overseas assignments, first in Bangkok
as a research associate in the Rockefeller Foundation Agricultural
Program, where he developed several research activities in maize. In
1970, he became a post-doctoral fellow at CIMMYT in Mexico.
Vasal is the fourth Indian scientist to win the World Food Prize,
which was established in 1986 by Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug.
It is awarded annually to individuals who have "advanced human
development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of
food in the world." The prize is funded by Iowa businessman and
philanthropist John Ruan.
Source: India West
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