It is quite inapt on the part of many people to underscore the invention and impacts made by some agronomists who contributed to the Green Revolution in the past history.
These great Agronomists whose works have had evident impact on the daily lives of people are Ernest Norman Borlaug, The American agronomist who discovered wheat varieties, George Washington Carver, Robert Bakewell and more.
There are also some female agronomists whose works have gone beyond the bar and have received credit for their contribution to agricultural advancements in the world today, a typical example is Holly King who is now the Chair of Almond Board of California.
That notwithstanding, the prowess of many should not be underestimated. These include Eve Ekeblad, a Swedish scientist kum agronomist who was formerly known as Eve De La Gardie, before she tied knots with her husband, Cleus Ekeblad at age 16.
Born in 1724 at Stockholm, into a Swedish aristocracy, Eve was said to have had no scientific background till she became an agronomist due to her husband’s constant travels to and from, the country.
While Potatoes were known to have been introduced in Sweden in 1658, Ekeblad already knew its numerous uses.
She became the first female to invent a more advanced method of distilling alcohol from potatoes for consumption. The mere fact was, Cleus Ekeblad, Her husband was said to have interest in potatoes and this, led to her extraordinary methodology of extracting and distilling alcohol from the tubers.
In 1740 when Sweden had experienced famine, Ekeblad’ s invention became a staple food in the country and the need for alcohol consumption rose.
Her work was noted since she allowed a greater use of scarce grains for food production.
Other methods of producing alcohol existed, yet her discovery made her the first inductee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences where she later became an honorary due to her gender (as a woman) after three years.
In 1746, She wrote to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on her discoveries of making alcohol and flour from potatoes while finding ways to invent soap that can be used in bleaching cotton textile(yarn).
Eve Ekeblad also discovered that flour from potatoes can be used to replace arsenic ,on the face- Arsenic is an essential element necessary to our physiology.
She died at age 61 on May 15, 1786 as a master of agronomy.
Eve Ekeblad: Meet First female agronomist to discover alcohol from potatoes
