‘‘We were honoured that the Swaminathan Sir gave this interview personally for Biotech Express magazine. We look forward to many more years of collaborative working to promote Indian Science and the importance of agricultural biodiversity to nourish people and sustain the planet.”
When the international edition of Time magazine named Indian agricultural scientist M. S. Swaminathan as
one of the 100 most influential Asians of the twentieth century, many readers wondered who Swaminathan was.
While less well known than the other Indians on Time ‘s list, such as poet Rabindranath Tagore and nonviolence
advocate Mohandas K. Gandhi, Swaminathan may have touched the lives of impoverished Indians more directly
than those other historical figures. As the originator of the so-called Green Revolution, Swaminathan set in motion fundamental changes in agricultural production in India that have put an end to India’s age-old status as a nation on the brink of starvation.
In this magazine words can’t express his efforts and his whole life cannot be described in few pages, but as academic magazine we are giving here excerpts from the talk we did. He did uncountable miracles in this long tenure and still at the age of 90+ he is successfully working in MSSRF.
Kamal Singh
M.S. Swaminathan is one of the world’s leading agricultural scientists. He played a catalytic role in India’s green revolution between 1960 and 1982. From April 1982 to January 1988 he served as Director General of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). He also served as the President of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs (2002-07). President of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) (1984-90).
For the decade prior to assuming his post with IRRI, Dr. Swaminathan was at the forefront of one of the most remarkable agricultural accomplishments in recent historymoving India from having the largest food deficit in the world to producing enough grain to feed all of its people. From 1954 to 1972, he worked at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, mainly in the field of wheat improvement. He served as Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research; Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (1972-1979); and Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (1979-1980). He was member in-charge of agriculture and rural development in India’s Planning Commission from 1980 to 1982.
Family backgorund and early education of Dr M S Swaminathan
Commonly called M S or Swaminathan, Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan is an Indian geneticist and international administrator, renowned for his leading role in …
