Dr MS Swaminathan: The man whose vision and work pulled India out of famine

Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, popularly known as Dr MS Swaminathan, was one of the greatest Indian agricultural scientists, whose pioneering research work helped the country move out of a possible famine in the 60s.

Dr MS Swaminathan, who was born on August 7, 1925 at Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu, passed away at the age of 98 on September 28, 2023 at Chennai.

Dr MS Swaminathan is considered the Father of India‘s Green Revolution and his research with American agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug in the area of developing pest-resistant wheat varieties led to farmers getting more yield from wheat and rice crops. This helped the country come out of a famine situation.

Dr MS Swaminathan and Norman Borlaug spearheaded a mass movement with farmers and other scientists that helped increase the production of wheat and rice in India.

He was the son of a surgeon and Dr MS Swaminathan’s father wanted him to follow in his footsteps, but he preferred agriculture to medicine. The rest, as they say, is history.

He graduated in Zoology from University College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, and got a Bachelor of Agriculture from Madras University in 1944.

The famine of 1943 in which more than 10 lakh people in the Bengal region (present-day Bangladesh and West Bengal) lost their lives had a deep impact on the young Swaminathan and he decided to dedicate his life to improving the country's farming methods and food grain production.

He joined the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi to focus on plant genetics and breeding and specialised in cytogenetics to help crop improvement.

He did an eight month fellowship from the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) for research in combating pests attacking potato farms.

In 1952 he studied at the University of Cambridge and got a Ph.D as a geneticist.

Dr MS Swaminathan did commendable research to modify grains in laboratories to better suit Indian soil, give a higher yield and remain infestation-free.

This led to increased production of wheat and in one year from the time he introduced the new varieties of wheat, its production jumped three-fold.

This increase in production of wheat resulted in farmers taking up the new variety across the country. They also began implementing cross-crop varieties and better irrigation techniques, leading to India becoming the ‘Bread Basket of the World.’

From 1972-1979 Dr MS Swaminathan was the Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and in 1982 he became the Director General of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Manila, the Philippines.

He was the first Asian to hold this post and his work was mainly involved in promotion of participation of women farmers in rice cultivation.

Dr MS Swaminathan was selected as the first World Food Prize Laureate, receiving the award in 1987 and with the prize money he set up the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) in Chennai in 1988.

The foundation works among farmers and promotes and supports new farming initiatives on low cost methods to improve food security.

In 2002, Dr MS Swaminathan was elected President of the Nobel Prize-winning, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.

In 2004, he became the Chairperson of the National Commission on Farmers which was constituted by the Congress-led UPA government to address farmer suicides in the country.

He joined the United Nations Hunger Task Force in 2005 and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2007 by President APJ Abdul Kalam.

He presented the Women Farmers’ Entitlements Bill, 2011 to increase the role of women in farming due to migration of men to the cities.

Dr MS Swaminathan was awarded the Padma Vibushan in 1989 after getting the Padma Bhushan in 1972 and Padma Sri in 1967.

He was the winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1971, Albert Einstein World Award for Science (1986), United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Award in 1994.

Dr MS Swaminathan won the Gandhi Gold Medal in 1999 and in the same year he was honoured with the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development.

He was conferred civilian awards by France, Cambodia, China and the Philippines and honorary doctorates by 80 universities across the world.