[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 110 (Monday, June 15, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S2959]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            WORLD FOOD PRIZE

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, this time of year for the last roughly 
30 years, the World Food Prize has announced a laureate. The laureate 
announced this year is Dr. Rattan Lal. He will receive the prize for 
his work on soil health at the annual ceremony that has taken place in 
Des Moines for the last 30 years in October.
  Often called the Nobel Prize for Agriculture, the World Food Prize is 
awarded for exceptional achievements that advance human development by 
increasing the quantity, quality, availability of, or access to food. 
The award was created by Iowan Dr. Norman Borlaug, who is credited with 
saving more lives than any other person who ever lived through his 
pioneering work in developing new, more productive plant varieties and 
particularly plant varieties free of disease. The Green Revolution 
sparked by Dr. Borlaug made it possible for India to feed its people.
  Dr. Lal, also from India, is being recognized for his work, which 
will be of interest to Iowans and others around the world. Dr. Lal 
said:

       Achieving hunger-free humanity, soil degradation 
     neutrality, negative emission farming, and pollutant-free 
     water are among principal challenges which can never be 
     ignored. . . . Sustainable management of soil and agriculture 
     is also essential to keeping global temperatures within the 
     safe range and restoring the environment.

  If people want to know who Dr. Borlaug is, he is one of the two 
statues that Iowa has put in Statuary Hall. He is one of five people in 
our country who have received a Nobel Peace Prize, the Congressional 
Gold Medal, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________