Dioscoro Lopez Umali (November 17, 1917 – July 1, 1992) was a Filipino agriculturalist and

National Scientist of the Philippines The Order of National Scientists of the Philippines ( Tagalog: ''Orden ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Agham ng Pilipinas''), abbreviated as ONS, is the highest award accorded to Filipino scientists by the Philippine government. Members of the order ...

awardee, known as "the Father of Philippine Plant Breeding." He was awarded several international honors and distinctions for his outstanding achievements and improvements of

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

and other economic plants. The

International Rice Research Institute The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is an international agricultural research and training organization with its headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, in the Philippines, and offices in seventeen countries. IRRI is known for its w ...

named a laboratory in his honor. Umali died on July 1, 1992, at the

Makati Medical Center Makati Medical Center (MMC), also known as Makati Med, is a tertiary hospital in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. The hospital was founded on May 31, 1969. The hospital is owned and operated by Medical Doctors Inc., a subsidiary of Metro P ...

Makati Makati ( ; ), officially the City of Makati (), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, known for being one of the leading financial centers in the country. As of 2013, the city has the highest concent ...

References

1917 births 1992 deaths People from Laguna (province) 20th-century Filipino scientists National Scientists of the Philippines Agriculturalists {{Philippines-scientist-stub