Swaminathan: MS Swaminathan, who brought food security to India, dead | India News
Swaminathan convinced the government that the high-yielding dwarf wheat which US scientist Norman Borlaug introduced in Mexico was the answer to India’s grain shortage.He adapted the seeds to suit Indian conditions and trained farmers in their cultivation. In Punjab alone, the wheat yield increased five-fold in five years – from 1.91 million tonnes in 1965-66 to 5.15 million tonnes in 1970-71.
Swaminathan was lauded as the ‘Father of the Green Revolution’. But he knew even then that intensive use of fertiliser was a short-term measure to tide over near-famine conditions. In later years, he batted for what he called an Evergreen Revolution through organic farming.
For the world, MS Swaminathan was a geneticist and the ‘father of green revolution in India’. But to those close to him, he was much more. They looked up to him as a scientist steadfast in using knowledge and technology to better the lives of farmers and the rural poor, a policymaker and administrator, a champion of women’s causes, a mentor, and a father figure.
P C Kesavan, who was Swaminathan’s Phd student in 1963 and went on to become executive director at MSSRF, recalls Swaminathan’s perseverance in convincing both the government and the farmers that the dwarf wheat Norman Borlaug introduced in Mexico, was high yielding. He put up demonstration plots in Delhi to convince farmers. Kesavan says the green revolution in India, because of Swaminathan’s efforts, served as the perfect answer to critics like American biologist Paul Ehrlich and William and Paul Paddock, authors of ‘Famine, 1975!’, who suggested stopping food aid to India, as the country was getting overpopulated. “But there were some people who disliked Swaminathan and sabotaged many things by bringing up invalid criticisms.
One famous geneticist said Swaminathan was depleting the biodiversity by pushing one variety of wheat over 100s of different varieties in the country. People described India as a begging bowl and said that if you didn’t put wheat in the bowl, millions would die. The green revolution transformed the begging bowl into a breadbasket. We not only had enough to feed our people but surplus to store for exports,” he says. Kesavan says Swaminathan started a series of efforts to improve the livelihoods of the rural poor, as there were mountains of grain but millions of hungry people in the 1980s.
“When he started his foundation in Chennai about 30 years ago, the entire focus was sustainable livelihoods, sustainable production, and sustainable management of biodiversity. That’s what the foundation has stood for.” Swaminathan’s work not just focussed on farmers, the poor and the rural community, but also encouraged women in agriculture, not just as labourers but also as co-managers. Sudha Nair, former senior director, MSSRF, says in 1996, Swaminathan mooted the idea of the first biotechnology park for women that gave a platform for aspiring entrepreneurs. Two of them were recently featured among the 75 women entrepreneurs by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council.
“He was a champion for the cause of women. In every policy workshop, he would have a section on genderrelated policy initiatives. To me, he was a mentor who pushed me from being a scientist in the lab to the field,” she says. Former executive director of MSSRF V Selvam recalls Swaminathan’s deftness in predicting the impact on environment and livelihood and it set off the mangrove conservation project he led in six states. For N Parasuraman, who had been with MSSRF since its inception, Prof Swaminathan was a motivating boss at office, an astute scientist on the field and a family at home. “He was there when I got married and when my son was born.
I have never seen a person of such calibre so humble. All that he wants is for MSSRF to continue to work for farmers, tribal people even after his lifetime,” he said.or the world, MS Swaminathan was a geneticist and the ‘father of green revolution in India’. But to those close to him, he was much more. They looked up to him as a scientist steadfast in using knowledge and technology to better the lives of farmers and the rural poor, a policymaker and administrator, a champion of women’s causes, a mentor, and a father figure. P C Kesavan, who was Swaminathan’s Phd student in 1963 and went on to become executive director at MSSRF, recalls Swaminathan’s perseverance in convincing both the government and the farmers that the dwarf wheat Norman Borlaug introduced in Mexico, was high yielding.
He put up demonstration plots in Delhi to convince farmers. Kesavan says the green revolution in India, because of Swaminathan’s efforts, served as the perfect answer to critics like American biologist Paul Ehrlich and William and Paul Paddock, authors of ‘Famine, 1975!’, who suggested stopping food aid to India, as the country was getting overpopulated. “But there were some people who disliked Swaminathan and sabotaged many things by bringing up invalid criticisms.
One famous geneticist said Swaminathan was depleting the biodiversity by pushing one variety of wheat over 100s of different varieties in the country. People described India as a begging bowl and said that if you didn’t put wheat in the bowl, millions would die. The green revolution transformed the begging bowl into a breadbasket. We not only had enough to feed our people but surplus to store for exports,” he says. Kesavan says Swaminathan started a series of efforts to improve the livelihoods of the rural poor, as there were mountains of grain but millions of hungry people in the 1980s. “When he started his foundation in Chennai about 30 years ago, the entire focus was sustainable livelihoods, sustainable production, and sustainable management of biodiversity.
That’s what the foundation has stood for.” Swaminathan’s work not just focussed on farmers, the poor and the rural community, but also encouraged women in agriculture, not just as labourers but also as co-managers. Sudha Nair, former senior director, MSSRF, says in 1996, Swaminathan mooted the idea of the first biotechnology park for women that gave a platform for aspiring entrepreneurs. Two of them were recently featured among the 75 women entrepreneurs by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council.
“He was a champion for the cause of women. In every policy workshop, he would have a section on genderrelated policy initiatives. To me, he was a mentor who pushed me from being a scientist in the lab to the field,” she says. Former executive director of MSSRF V Selvam recalls Swaminathan’s deftness in predicting the impact on environment and livelihood and it set off the mangrove conservation project he led in six states. For N Parasuraman, who had been with MSSRF since its inception, Prof Swaminathan was a motivating boss at office, an astute scientist on the field and a family at home. “He was there when I got married and when my son was born. I have never seen a person of such calibre so humble. All that he wants is for MSSRF to continue to work for farmers, tribal people even after his lifetime,” he said.
