From a speech given by Normal Borlaug many years ago:

The most conservative man in traditional agriculture is the scientist, and sometimes I am not proud to be one of them. This is most discouraging. The scientist is a privileged person, the man who should lead us out of the wilderness of the static, underproductive agriculture, and yet by his apathy and failure to exercise his unique vision, he keeps us in the swamps of despair.

The scientist fears change because he is in a relatively privileged position in his own society. If there is no breakthrough in yield, he will not be criticized. But if he makes a recommendation and something goes wrong, he may lose his job.