Three distinguished scientists were named winners of the 2013 World Food Prize.
Marc Van Montagu, Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Plant Biotechnology for Developing Countries, Department of Molecular Genetics at Ghent University, Belgium; Mary-Dell Chilton, Distinguished Science Fellow at Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc. in Triangle Park, North Carolina; and Robert T. Fraley, Executive Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer at Monsanto Company in St. Louis, Missouri, will share the $250,000 World Food Prize.
At a ceremony at the U.S. State Department hosted by Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Robert Hormats on Wednesday, World Food Prize Foundation President and former U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Kenneth M. Quinn announced the names of the winners.
They were honored for their independent breakthrough achievements in founding, developing and applying modern plant biotechnology, the State Department said in a press release.
Their research has made it possible for farmers to grow crops with improved yields, resistance to insects and disease, and the ability to tolerate extreme variations in climate such as excessive heat and drought, it added.
Delivering the keynote address, Secretary of State John Kerry said "hunger is an economic issue, a national security issue - and without a doubt a moral issue." He called for innovation to help alleviate hunger and malnutrition.
This year marks the 27th anniversary of the World Food Prize, which recognizes individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.
The World Food Prize was established in 1986 by Dr. Norman E. Borlaug in order to focus the world's attention on the ongoing hunger crisis and on those whose work has significantly helped efforts to end it.
The award will be presented at a ceremony to be held in Iowa state's capital Des Moines on October 17.
The World Food Prize is guided by a distinguished Council of Advisers that includes former U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush.
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