Everywhere in Asia farmers are called upon not only to feed their growing nations but also to produce rice and other commodities for export. In Vietnam, efforts to meet this challenge are complicated by the troubling legacies of recent war and economic policies that stifled individual enterprise and inadvertently limited growth. Helping Vietnam's farmers to overcome these impediments, and to thrive, has been the life's work of VO-TONG XUAN.
Born to a poor family in southern Vietnam, XUAN learned English as a boy and won a scholarship to the University of the Philippines in Los Baños. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in agricultural chemistry and was appointed research fellow at the nearby International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Returning to South Vietnam in 1971, XUAN joined the faculty of the University of Cantho and headed the department of Agronomy. He completed his PhD at Kyushu University in 1975.
Today, 52-year-old XUAN uses his higher profile to plead the cause of Vietnam's rural folk and to promote better training for the country's up-and-coming scientists. Still a working scientist himself, he stays attuned to life on the farm and to promising new developments: nowadays, small-scale agro-industries are blossoming everywhere in the-countryside.
In electing VO-TONG XUAN to receive the 1993 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service, the Board of Trustees recognizes his combining practical scientific research and effective advocacy to improve the lives of Vietnam's farmers.
Vo-Tong Xuan (Vietnamese)
Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Government Service, 1993


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[16] p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm