Henry Beachell

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Henry Monroe Beachell (September 21, 1906 - December 13, 2006) was an American plant breeder. His research led to the development of "miracle rice" - hybrid rice cultivars that saved millions of people around the world from starvation. "Hank" Beachell has been called the most important person in rice improvement in the world. As farmers planted higher yielding rice, nutrition improved in many Asian countries, and farmers increased their incomes. For his efforts, he received at age 90 the 1996 World Food Prize, along with his fellow rice-breeder Dr. Gurdev Khush from India.