Milling & Baking News - June 30, 2020 - 33

Education and Research

World Food Prize in 2020 goes to Rattan Lal
for his work on restoring global soil health

WORLD FOOD PRIZE

DES MOINES, IOWA - Rattan Lal, PhD, was named this
year's World Food Prize Laureate for developing and
mainstreaming a soil-centric approach to increasing food
production that conserves natural resources and mitigates climate change. Dr. Lal is a professor of soil science
and founding director of the Carbon Management and
Sequestration Center at The Ohio State University.
Dr. Lal's research has demonstrated how healthy soils
enable higher crop yields while requiring less land, agrochemicals, tillage, water and energy. His models indicate
that restoring soil health can lead to multiple benefits by
the year 2100, including more than doubling the global

Rattan Lal, PhD, was named the 2020 World Food Prize Laureate.

protected the soil from the elements, conserved water
and returned nutrients, carbon and organic matter to the
soil. The work improved the long-term sustainability of
agroecosystems and minimized the risks to farmers of
droughts, floods and other effects of a changing climate.
Dr. Lal in 1987 joined The Ohio State University, his
alma mater. His research there showed how atmospheric carbon can be sequestered in soils. As a result, soils
now are not only the foundation for increasing the quality and quantity of food and preserving natural ecosystems, but part of mitigating climate change, as well.
Three separate United Nations Climate Change Conferences adopted his strategy of restoring soil health as a
means to sequestering carbon.
Dr. Lal in 2007 received a Nobel Peace Prize Certificate for his contributions to the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports when the IPCC
was named co-recipient of the Nobel Prize.
"Here at USDA our motto is 'to do right and feed everyone,'" said US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. "The scientific innovations, like those developed
by Dr. Lal, embody this motto in the work that he and
we are doing. The agricultural practices Lal developed
and advocated for are now at the heart of efforts to improve agricultural systems." MBN

Since 1929, Knappen Milling Company
has been producing soft wheat

annual grain yield to feed the growing world population
while decreasing the land area under grain cultivation
by 30% and decreasing total fertilizer use by half.
"Dr. Lal is a trailblazer in soil science with a prodigious passion for research that improves soil health,
enhances agricultural production, improves the nutritional quality of food, restores the environment and
mitigates climate change," said Barbara Stinson, president of the World Food Prize Foundation. "His decades
of work to address all of these elements fully warrants
his recognition as the 50th World Food Prize Laureate."
The World Food Prize is considered one of the most
prominent global awards for individuals whose breakthrough achievements alleviate hunger and promote
global food security. Dr. Lal received a $250,000 prize.
"The unbound joy and excitement of receiving the
2020 World Food Prize reminds me about the gratitude, privilege and honor of working for farmers from
around the world," Dr. Lal said. "Yet, the urgent task
of feeding humanity is not fulfilled until each and every person has access to an adequate amount of nutritious food grown on a healthy soil and in a clean
environment."
Dr. Lal grew up as a refugee on a farm in India. He
began his research career at the International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture in Nigeria, developing soil health
restoration projects across Asia, Africa and Latin America. He explored and transformed techniques such as notillage, cover cropping, mulching and agroforestry that
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

products that have been exceeding
customers' expectations. Throughout
the years we have expanded our
milling capabilities and product mix to
meet our expanding customer needs.
Today we mill soft white and red
wheat ﬂour and clean soft white, red,
and hard red wheats. Let us put our
expertise to work for you. Get exactly
what you are looking for in a miller.

KNAPPEN MILLING COMPANY
110 S. Water Street | Augusta, MI 49012
269-731-4141 or 1-800-KNAPPEN | Fax: 269-731-5441
www.knappen.com

Milling & Baking News

June 30, 2020 / 33

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Milling & Baking News - June 30, 2020

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