M. S. Swaminathan

M. S. Swaminathan
Bharat Ratna
Vikash Swaminathan in 2013
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office
2007–2013
ConstituencyNominated
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
In office
1979–1980
Personal details
Born
Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan vikash

(1925-08-07)7 August 1925
Kumbakonam, Tanjore District, Madras Presidency, British India (present-day Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India)
Died28 September 2023(2023-09-28) (aged 98)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Alma mater
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1955; died 2022)​
Children3, including Soumya
Awards
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
Thesis Species Differentiation, and the Nature of Polyploidy in certain species of the genus Solanum–section Tuberarium  (1952)
Doctoral advisorH. W. Howard

Bharat Ratna Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan (7 August 1925 – 28 September 2023) was an Indian agronomist, agricultural scientist, geneticist, administrator and humanitarian.[1] Swaminathan was a global leader of the green revolution.[2] He has been called the main architect[a] of the green revolution in India for his leadership and role in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice.[5][6]

Swaminathan's collaborative scientific efforts with Norman Borlaug, spearheading a mass movement with farmers and other scientists and backed by public policies, saved India and Pakistan from certain famine-like conditions in the 1960s.[7][8] His leadership as director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines was instrumental in his being awarded the first World Food Prize in 1987, recognized as one of the highest honours in the field of agriculture.[9] The United Nations Environment Programme has called him "the Father of Economic Ecology".[10] He was recently conferred the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of the Republic of India, in 2024.

Swaminathan contributed basic research related to potato, wheat, and rice, in areas such as cytogenetics, ionizing radiation, and radiosensitivity.[11] He was a president of the Pugwash Conferences and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.[12][13] In 1999, he was one of three Indians, along with Gandhi and Tagore, on Time's list of the 20 most influential Asian people of the 20th century.[5] Swaminathan received numerous awards and honours, including the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award, the Ramon Magsaysay Award, and the Albert Einstein World Science Award.[10] Swaminathan chaired the National Commission on Farmers in 2004, which recommended far-reaching ways to improve India's farming system.[14] He was the founder of an eponymous research foundation.[5] He coined the term "Evergreen Revolution" in 1990 to describe his vision of "productivity in perpetuity without associated ecological harm".[2][15] He was nominated to the Parliament of India for one term between 2007 and 2013.[16] During his tenure he put forward a bill for the recognition of women farmers in India.[17]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cabral, Lídia; Pandey, Poonam; Xu, Xiuli (3 July 2021). "Epic narratives of the Green Revolution in Brazil, China, and India" (PDF). Agriculture and Human Values. 39: 249–267. doi:10.1007/s10460-021-10241-x. S2CID 237804269.
  3. ^ Dugger, Celia W. (10 November 2000). "Chidambaram Subramaniam, India's 'Green' Rebel, 90, Dies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 December 2021. Chidambaram Subramaniam, the political architect of the green revolution in India...
  4. ^ "'Father of Wheat Revolution' DS Athwal passes away". Hindustan Times. 15 May 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Spaeth, Anthony (23–30 August 1999). "Asians of the Century: A Tale of Titans. M.S. Swaminathan". TIME. Time 100. Vol. 154, no. 7/8. Archived from the original on 25 January 2001.
  6. ^ "Swaminathan, Moncompu Sambasivan". Ramon Magsaysay Award. 1971. Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021. A cytogeneticist from India who made major advances in breeding sturdier, more productive and better quality plant types
  7. ^ Quinn 2015, p. 418-420.
  8. ^ Damodaran, Harish (13 August 2015). "A living legend: Swaminathan@90". The Indian Express. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  9. ^ Quinn 2015, p. 417-418.
  10. ^ a b Worth, Brett. "M.S. Swaminathan (Honorary)". The Hunger Project. Archived from the original on 10 June 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  11. ^ Kesavan & Iyer 2014, p. 2041-2042.
  12. ^ Gopalkrishnan 2002, p. 2.
  13. ^ Kesavan & Iyer 2014, p. 2045.
  14. ^ Mishra, Dheeraj (27 December 2020). "Reality Belies Modi Govt Claims of Implementing Swaminathan Commission's Report". The Wire. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  15. ^ Quinn 2015, p. 426...'Evergreen Revolution' to mean increasing agricultural productivity in perpetuity without associated ecological harm...
  16. ^ "M.S. Swaminathan". PRS Legislative Research (PRSIndia). Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  17. ^ Bedi, Bani (30 July 2018). "The Centre Is Barely Serious About Recognising Women as Farmers". The Wire. Retrieved 25 November 2021.


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