A seed developer from the Netherlands credited with introducing high quality disease-resistant vegetable seeds to more than 60 countries including the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia was awarded the 2019 World Food Prize on Monday. He had learned 16 years earlier on his first trip to Indonesia that vegetable seeds developed for the temperate climate of Europe did poorly when planted in the tropics. He thought there was a huge opportunity to introduce hybrid vegetables to the region, which lacked vegetable seed developers working to adapt hybrids to the local climate. Groot will receive the $250,000 World Food Prize during an Oct. 17 award ceremony at the Iowa Capitol. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug created the prize in 1986 to recognize scientists and others who have improved the quality and availability of food.

Source: ABC News June 10, 2019 16:19 UTC