Cecil Salmon

Samuel Cecil Salmon (1885 to 1975) was an American agronomist whose collection in occupied Japan fed the Green Revolution. Born in South Dakota, he studied at South Dakota State, Kansas State and Minnesota, taught and researched wheat production at Kansas State from 1913 to 1931 and then became Principal Agronomist in the USDA Office of Cereal Crops and Diseases. As cereal crops consultant to the US Army of Occupation in Japan after World War II he noticed the productive semi-dwarf Japanese wheats, collected 16 varieties including Norin 10 and sent seed to the USDA Small Grains Collection. Orville Vogel used it to develop Gaines, which holds the world record for wheat yield, and CIMMYT used Norin 10 to develop the varieties that began the Green Revolution. He later spent two years in the Philippines helping rehabilitate the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture at Los Baños, made four tours with the U.S. Agency for International Development and co-wrote books on experimental design in agricultural research.