The World Food Prize will be awarded to Dr. Daniel Hillel for
his role in conceiving and implementing a radically new mode of bringing
water to crops in arid and dry land regions - known as
“micro-irrigation.”
Dr. Hillel’s pioneering scientific work in Israel
revolutionized food production, first in the Middle East, and then in
other regions around the world over the past five decades. His work
laid the foundation for maximizing efficient water usage in agriculture,
increasing crop yields, and minimizing environmental degradation.
Dr. Hillel’s development and promotion of better
land and water management clearly demonstrated that farmers no longer
needed to depend on the soil’s ability to store water, as was the case
when using the previous method of high volume, low frequency irrigation.
The technology he advanced, including drip, trickle and continuous-feed
irrigation, has improved the quality of life and livelihoods throughout
the Middle East and around the world.
Dr. Hillel proved that plants grown in
continuously moist soil, achieved through micro-irrigation, produced
higher yields than plants grown under the old flooding or sprinkler
irrigation methods. Using less water in agriculture per unit of land not
only conserves a scarce resource in arid and semi-arid regions, but
also results in significantly “more crop per drop,” with the successful
cultivation of field crops and fruit trees -- even in coarse sands and
gravel.
By integrating complex scientific principles,
designing practical applications, and achieving wide outreach to
farmers, communities, researchers, and agricultural policymakers in more
than 30 countries, Daniel Hillel has impacted the lives of millions.
For more information, please, visit the website of The World Food Prize.