Norman Borlaug, the father of the “Green Revolution”, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 and celebrated by Time magazine in 1999 as one of the 100 most influential minds of the 20th century, died at his home in Dallas on 12 September 2009 from lymphoma.

In a cerebral interview in the Economist in 2007, Borlaug pointed out that global cereal production tripled between 1950 and 2000, but the amount of land used increased by only 10%. Using traditional techniques such as crop rotation, compost and manure to supply the soil with nitrogen and other minerals would have required a tripling of the area under cultivation. The more intensively you farm, Mr Borlaug contended, the more room you have left for rainforest.

In the 1960s India hadn't yet recovered from the Bengal Famine which left 3 million dead. Indian farmers in the 1960s produced only 12 million tons of wheat annually; significantly less than their population required. In 1965 M.S. Swaminathan, C. Subramaniam and B. P. Pal, along with Dr Borlaug introduced the use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides to the subcontinent. Today India is a net exporter producing some 200 million tons of grain a year.

In 1836 Charles Darwin spent 18 days in and around Cape Town.  In 2009, the year that we are celebrating his Bicentennial, the importance of his visit to the Cape aboard the HMS Beagle is being reassessed.  The actual route he followed has been plotted and forms what is now designated as the Darwin Trail.

The Darwin Trail Map has been produced to enable you to follow the route that Charles Darwin took when he visited Cape Town This easy to consult publication is the perfect companion for those that enjoy history, hiking and heritage. The map will be distributed to schools, tourism bureaux at the various spots that are significant on the Trail and a number of other institutions.

The map was launched at Stellenbosch University using their Interactive Telematic Technology system to broadcast via satellite to ten schools: Aloe Secondary, Sinethemba Secondary, Manyano High School, Perseverance Secondary, Ashton Secondary, Desmond Tutu Secondary , Noorder Paarl Sec, Mandlenkosi Secondary, Naphakade Secondary and Albert Myburgh Secondary.
Introduced by MEC for Education Donald Grant, the schools heard the story of Charles Darwin’s visit as the trail was brought to life by Dr Wilmot James MP and anthropologist Nonhlanhla Dlamini.
James, who is a DA MP and Shadow Minister for Higher Education & Training iinitiated the Trail project as part of the Africa Genome Education Institute Darwin200 celebrations: a project to create greater awareness of Darwin’s legacy.

SKIN is a controversial film which tells the true story of Sandra Laing, a girl born in the 1950s to white Afrikaner parents, but who was classified black under apartheid because she displayed the physical attributes of a coloured person.

The film screens at the TriContinental Film Festival on Wednesday in Joburg and Heritage Day (September 24) in Cape Town.

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