John Raeburn, who died on July 9 at 93, was the agricultural economist who, as head of the Agricultural Plans Branch of the Ministry of Food, set up the “Dig for Victory” campaign that fed Great Britain during World War II.

John Ross Raeburn was born on November 20, 1912, in Aberdeen, the son of an engineer, who had invented a riceplanting machine. He graduated from Edinburgh University, and in 1936 became professor of agricultural economics in Nanking, China.

On the outbreak of war Raeburn joined the Ministry of Food as a statistician, work that led to his appointment as head of the Agricultural Plans branch in 1941. Before the war, Britain had imported 55 million tons of food annually, and the German fleet’s Uboat campaign set out to cut off supplies. Raeburn’s branch was instrumental in setting up what became the Dig for Victory program, which encouraged the civilian population to convert lawns and flowerbeds into agriculture.

It was widely regarded as a great success; 10 million leaflets were distributed, and a series of iconic posters was produced. It was estimated that 1.4 million people cultivated vegetable gardens, while others raised rabbits, goats and chickens. By 1943, more than a million tons of vegetables were being produced, and even the moat of the Tower of London was under cultivation.

By the next year, a quarter of the official production of eggs came from domestic sources, while pigs — popular because they could be fed on kitchen waste — became a craze. Nine hundred “pig clubs”sprang up, and around 6,000 animals were kept in private gardens.

The campaign even produced an anthem: “Dig! Dig! Dig! And your muscles will grow big / Keep on pushing the spade / Don’t mind the worms / Just ignore their squirms /And when your back aches laugh for glee / Just keep on digging / Till we give our foes a wigging / Dig! Dig! Dig! for Victory!”

Despite the success of the campaign, Raeburn and his colleagues urged continued efforts, and he was instrumental in developing postwar plans for British agriculture that aimed to increase output by 60% over pre-war levels.

In 1946, Raeburn returned to Oxford, then took a post in agricultural economics at London University. In 1950, he was visiting professor at Cornell, where he received a doctorate and looked into the marketing of Mackintosh apples.

In later years, he worked as a consultant to the United Nations on mechanized agriculture, and also became an expert on the rubber industry in Malaya.

He followed his own advice, and grew vegetables all his life, though he also raised chrysanthemums. He was skeptical about the value of organic farming. As befitted an Aberdonian, he was frugal, saving the string from his beanpoles for the following year’s crop.