Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram
DAVID PITT, Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A crop scientist credited with developing hundreds of varieties of disease-resistant wheat adaptable to many climates has been awarded the 2014 World Food Prize.
Sanjaya Rajaram, who was born in India and is a citizen of Mexico, wins the $250,000 prize founded in 1986 by Norman Borlaug, who was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for boosting agricultural production in what has become known as the “Green Revolution.”
Rajaram worked with Borlaug and continued his work developing 480 wheat varieties that have been released in 51 countries on six continents.
The announcement was made in Washington by Kenneth Quinn, the head of World Food Prize. Rajaram will receive the award in an Oct. 16 ceremony in Des Moines, where the World Food Prize is based.