M.S.Swaminathan –Father of Green Revolution

M.S. Swaminathan, the legendary agricultural scientist and a key architect of the country’s Green Revolution, passed away at his residence in Chennai on Thursday, following age-related issues. He was 98.

Full Name: Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan

Date of Birth: August 7, 1925

Date of Demise: September 28, 2023

Birth Place: Kumbakonam

Parents: M. K. Sambasivan and Parvati Thangammal

Academics

Bachelor Degree: Zoology & Agricultural Science

Postgraduate degree: Cytogenetics -Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi

Doctorate of Philosophy – Cambridge

Areas of Expertise:

Cytogenetics

Radiation genetics

Mutation breeding

Positions Held:

Professor : Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI), Cuttack and later, IARI-1954

Director, IARI- 1966-1972

Period of Green Revolution

Agriculture Minister: C.Subramaniam

Director-General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR):1972

Principal Secretary, Union Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation:1979

Janata Party Period: Moraji Desai, Charan Singh

Agriculter Minister: Jagjivan Ram

Deputy Chairman and Member of 6^thPlanning Commission1980

Contribution

Introduction of women and environment with respect to development in India's five year plans for the first time.

1982: First Asian director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines.

Significant Contribution:

Women in Rice Farming Systems

Development of Rice withCarbon fixation capabilities

President of International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN)

Vice President of World Wildlife Fund

Member of State Planning Commission of Tamilnadu: 1989-91&1996-2000

2004: Chairman of the National Commission on Farmers( Swaminthan Commission)

Significant recommendation:

Minimum support price should be at least 50% more than the weighted average cost of production.

Nominated Rajya Sabha Member : 2007 to 2013

President at the time: A.P.J Abdul Kalam

The bill introduced by him:

Women Farmers' Entitlements Bill 2011( Not Passed)

Awards& Honors:

Padma Shri in 1967

Ramon Magsaysay award for community leadership in 1971

Padma Bhushan in January 1972.

First person to get the World Food Prize :1987

Golden Heart Presidential Award of Philippines:

First foreigner to receive it.

Padma Vibhusan

World Agriculture Prize by Indian Council of Food and Agriculture

First to receive in 2018

Just before receiving his Nobel Prize in 1970, Norman Borlaug wrote to Swaminathan:[49]

“ The Green Revolution has been a team effort and much of the credit for its spectacular development must go to the Indian officials, organizations, scientists, and farmers. However, to you, Dr. Swaminathan, a great deal of the credit must go for first recognizing the potential value of the Mexican dwarfs. Had this not occurred, it is quite possible that there would not have been a Green Revolution in Asia”

Norman Borlaug

M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF)

Established in 1989

Not-for –profit trust

Location: Taramani, Chennai, Tamilnadu

Aim:

To accelerate use of modern science and technology for agricultural and rural development to improve lives and livelihoods of communities

Contribution:

Research on the origin and evolutionary processes of potato

species differentiation and the nature of polyploidy in certain species of the genus Solanum

Development of frost resistant potato

Green Revolution:

When he was the Director of IARI.

varieties of wheat and rice developed by Swaminathan and Borlaug were foundational to the green revolution

Contributed for the Establishment of Central Institute of Women in Agriculture , Bhuvaneshwar, Odisha

Evergreen Revolution

He coined the term

Meaning “productivity with perpetuity”

Emphasis on crop and livestock productivity in perpetuity without ecological or social harm

Development of Rice withCarbon fixation capabilities

Development of World’s 1^st High Yielding Basmati Rice

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have little”

M.S. Swaminathan