Harold Ray Watson
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Harold Ray Watson (born April 17, 1934) is a retired
missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
and pioneer in the field of agronomy. He is world recognized for developing a method of cultivating denuded mountain slopes, and for encouraging utilization of the method to help the poorest, small scale, tropical farmers, specifically in the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
. He was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1985.


Early life

Watson was born on a farm from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, the second child and only son of Joseph Watson and Dorothy Mae Cagle. His father farmed cotton, corn and watermelon on of sloping hillside land. His parents separated and his father worked at a government arsenal in Texas and later remarried, but his mother and the two children remained in Mississippi on the family farm. Watson studied at McLaurin Elementary School and Forrest County Agricultural High School, graduating in 1952. He then served in the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
from 1952 to 1956. Following his discharge, he married his wife, Joyce, then attended Hinds Junior College in
Raymond, Mississippi Raymond is a city in Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,933; in 2020, its population was 1,960. Raymond is one of two county seats of Hinds County (along with Jackson) and is the home of the ...
, for one year, before transferring to Mississippi State University to gain an undergraduate degree in agriculture. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1959, and Master of Science degree in 1960.Mississippi Legislature (1999)
Senate Concurrent Resolution 603
' Mississippi Legislature. Retrieved March 15, 2015


Calling to Missionary work

The idea of becoming a
missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
came to Watson whilst on active duty during the
Korean war , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
.Blackaby, H.T. & Blackaby, N.C. (2006)
Called and Accountable: Discovering Your Place in God's Eternal Purpose
' New Hope Publishers. Retrieved March 15, 2015
After graduating university in 1960, he spent a year at the
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological institute in Fort Worth, Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It was established in 1908 and is one of the largest seminaries in the world. It ...
in Fort Worth, Texas, and a further year teaching vocational agriculture at North Forrest High School in
Eatonville, Mississippi Eatonville is a small rural settlement north of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is home to North Forrest High School. North Forrest High School on Eatonville Road serves grades 7 to 12 and is the only high school in Forrest County School District. ...
, before applying for missionary work. He received an appointment as agricultural evangelist to the Philippines in May 1964. From 1965 to 1970, Watson served at Southern Baptist College in
M'Lang, Cotabato M'lang, officially the Municipality of M'lang ( Hiligaynon: ''Banwa sang M'lang;'' Maguindanaon: ''Inged nu Melang'', Jawi: ايڠايد نو ملڠ), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Cotabato, Philippines. According to the ...
, on the island of
Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
, as an agricultural consultant, and also worked with rural farmers and churches in the area. In 1971, Watson opened the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center, a training center for farmers, which integrates agricultural development with Bible teaching. He served as director for the center until his retirement in 1997. Watson returned to the United States in November 1997, for final furlough until officially retiring on January 31, 1999. He presently resides in Terry, Mississippi.


SALT

Observing that the steep slopes of the region made traditional farming impossible, Watson established a site, on abandoned mountain farmland, to develop a system that would allow the Filipinos to better feed themselves. Over many years he was able to develop a method, called Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT), that enabled farmers to produce food on badly eroded hillsides. SALT has been adopted by a variety of countries Including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Burma and many other Asian countries. and relief organisation to battle hunger. In 1998, he established the Asian Rural Life Development Foundation for the purpose of extending awareness of farming technologies, suitable for poor upland farmers, to other countries in Asia.


Honors

Source: * Achievement Award in Technology Development from the Crop Science Society of the Philippines (1984) * Ramon Magsaysay Award in International Understanding for encouraging international utilization of the SALT technology, created by him and his co-workers, to help the poorest tropical farmers (1985) * Outstanding Farm Technology Award from the Department of Science and Technology of the Philippine Government. The citation from President Corazon Aquino, for his work with poor upland farmers in the Philippines, was presented in Washington, D.C. during her visit to the United States.(1985) * World Food Day Award presented by
Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
(FAO) of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
for his efforts in promoting awareness of the dangers in unlimited exploitation of the world's forests, and for the development and promulgation of technologies promoting the use of trees to conserve the soil and minimize soil erosion on steep hillsides. * Mississippi Legislature recognition (1999).


Quotes


Dissertation

* Watson, H. R. (1960). ''A Study of Agricultural Education in Foreign Lands Sponsored by Various Religious Mission Boards.'' M.S. Mississippi State University, Department of Agricultural Education.


Notes


References


External links


Overview of SALT system

Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation recipient profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Harold Ray Living people People from Forrest County, Mississippi Baptist missionaries from the United States American agronomists 1934 births Baptist missionaries in the Philippines American expatriates in the Philippines Baptists from Mississippi