 "M S Swaminathan")
Dr M S Swaminathan, India’s foremost agricultural scientist and the man who transformed this vast country from an importer of grains into one of the largest producers of wheat and rice, passed away at the age of 98 on Thursday.
The crop geneticist is credited single-handedly bringing about the Green Revolution in the country, which elevated India’s production of cereals to unprecedented levels.
His contribution goes beyond merely improving yields; he also brought science and a scientific temper to the forefront of agriculture in India. During his tenure in various capacities across departments, Swaminathan is also recognised as the builder of several pioneering institutions in India and abroad.
He served as director of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, or IARI (1961-72), director general of Indian Council of Agricultural Research and secretary to the Government of India, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (1972-79), principal secretary, Ministry of Agriculture (1979-80), acting deputy chairman, and later Member (Science and Agriculture), Planning Commission (1980-82), and director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines (1982-88).
Dr M S Swaminathan (right) with Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug (Photo: X)
More From This Section
From Green to Evergreen Revolution
The Green Revolution began around 1965-66, as the rising population led to a decline in India’s per capita annual foodgrain production, dropping from nearly 190 kilogram (kg) in 1961-62 to 151 kg in 1965-66 and 1966-67. The crisis was so severe that India had to rely on wheat imports, mainly from the US under the PL-480 programme. In 1966, over 10 million tonnes (mt) of wheat had to be imported.
The Green Revolution was based on five main pillars: a) strong research and development, b) price assurance to producers through a robust system of minimum support price (MSP), c) inter- and intra-year price stability through open market operations, d) maintenance of buffer stocks, and e) distribution of foodgrain through an effective public distribution system (PDS). At this time, the International Maize and Wheat Research Center in Mexico developed a semi-dwarf,
disease-resistant, high-yielding variety of wheat, followed by a similar breakthrough in rice at the IRRI in the Philippines.
India, under the leadership of Swaminathan, eagerly embraced these high-yielding varieties of wheat, later followed by rice.
The northwest region of the Indo-Gangetic plains, encompassing Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh, with their robust irrigation systems and a strong affinity for farming, proved to be ideal for this technology and were its early adopters.
The results were rapid, successful, and supported by a robust procurement mechanism. From the triennium ending 1966-67 to 1971-72, India’s wheat production more than doubled, from 11 mt to 23 mt.
Rice production during the first five years of adopting this new technology increased by 30 per cent, from 33 mt to 42 mt.
Since the adoption of Green Revolution technology, India has never faced a serious food security threat, even as its population increased from 500 million in the beginning of 1966 to over 1.12 billion in 2010.
“As early as 1968, he appealed to farmers not to harm the long-term production potential for short-term gain and also advised farmers to avoid turning the Green Revolution into a Greed Revolution. Later, he also coined the term Evergreen Revolution. In the concept of the Evergreen Revolution, technologies can help farmers improve productivity in perpetuity without harming the ecology, and the country can achieve sustainability in agriculture,” said Dr S Mahendra Dev, former director and Vice-Chancellor of Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai.
In 2004, Swaminathan was appointed as Chair of the National Commission on Farmers (NCF), a panel set up to address farmer distress amid alarming suicide cases. The commission submitted its report in 2006 and suggested, among its recommendations, that the MSP should be at least 50 per cent more than the weighted average cost of production.
With former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; he served as principal secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture from 1979 to 1980 (Photo: X)
The MSP Commission
On November 18, 2004, the government constituted the NCF under the chairmanship of Swaminathan. The NCF submitted four reports in December 2004, August 2005, December 2005, and April 2006. The fifth and final report was submitted on October 4, 2006. These reports serve as comprehensive status papers on Indian agriculture, the food and rural sector, offering detailed explanations for the farming-related distress and strategies to overcome it.
The reports addressed a wide range of issues affecting agriculture and the food economy, including land reforms, irrigation, credit and insurance, agricultural productivity, food security, prevention of farmers’ suicides, competitiveness in farming, employment, and bio-resources.
Swaminathan’s recommendations on land reforms included the distribution of surplus and wasteland and the establishment of a National Land Use Advisory Service to regulate the sale of agricultural land.
For food security, the NCF suggested universal PDS, a National Food Security Act, and community food and water banks. Regarding biodiversity preservation, the NCF advocated preserving the traditional right of access to biodiversity, including non-timber forest products such as medicinal plants, gums, and resins, oil-yielding plants, and beneficial microorganisms.
In the chapter on Competitiveness of Farmers, the report suggested that MSP should be at least 50 per cent more than the weighted average cost of production. While it did not specify the method for calculating this cost (either A2+FL or C2 or A2), it recommended improving the implementation of MSP and the establishment of MSP arrangements for crops other than paddy and wheat. It also recommended the permanent inclusion of millet and other nutritious cereals in the PDS.
In his subsequent presentations and submissions to the government, Swaminathan clarified that the 50 per cent increase should apply to the comprehensive cost or C2 of production.
Swaminathan’s views on genetically modified crops sometimes brought him into direct confrontation with activists and civil society, but he remained steadfast in his convictions.
Bhagirath Choudhary, founder and director of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre in Jodhpur, highlighted one of Swaminathan’s greatest achievements: influencing and ensuring the political acceptability of agricultural science and innovation in post-Independence India.
“The national agricultural research system is the result of his impeccable knowledge, unparalleled scientific record, and career for public goods, which gave his words tremendous power, enabling India to embrace science-led agricultural revolution," Choudhary said.
Dr A K Singh, current director of IARI, said in a statement: “An era of agricultural research, education, and extension filled with disruptive innovation comes to an end. If God appears to the poor and hungry in the form of bread, as Mahatma Gandhi said, then that God is Dr Swaminathan, who should be revered by every citizen while partaking in their daily meals.”
Awards & accolades
Swaminathan was awarded the first World Food Prize in 1987, following which he established the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation in Taramani, Chennai. He received numerous accolades, including the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and the Padma Vibhushan. He also received the HK Firodia Award, the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award, and the Indira Gandhi Prize, in addition to several international honours, such as the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1971) and the Albert Einstein World Science Award (1986).
