By: Dr Ratan Bhattacharjee
“If agriculture goes wrong, nothing else will have a chance to go right” said Dr. M.S. Swaminathan who is regarded as the Father of the First Green Revolution for his wonderful contribution to Agricultural research in India nay, the world. M.S. Swaminathan was named the first World Food Prize Laureate for developing and spearheading the introduction of high-yielding wheat and rice varieties into India during the 1960s when that country faced the prospect of widespread famine. Swaminathan, is no more. He passed away at his residence in Chennai at 98. It was in 1970. He was not yet a Nobel Laureate. Norman Borlaug wrote to Dr. Swaminathan that a great deal of the spectacular development of The Green Revolution was due to the team effort of the Indian officials, organizations, scientists and farmers.
However a great deal of the credit must go to Dr. Swaminathan for recognizing the potential value of the Mexican dwarf varieties of wheat. That made the Green Revolution possible in Asia. Dr Swaminathan turned down plum positions in academia and in government administration for his commitment to agricultural research. The Government of India declared India self-sufficient in food production in 1971. As an educator and administrator he also dealt with other serious issues of access to food, hunger and nutrition. A term coined by Swaminathan, ‘Evergreen Revolution’, based on the enduring influence of the green revolution, aims to address the continuous increase in sustainable productivity that mankind requires. His shift to the Planning Commission for two years resulted in the introduction of women and environment with respect to development in India a five year plan for the first time. In 1982, he was made the first Asian director general of the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines He was there until 1988 and during his tenure he was conducting an international conference “Women in Rice Farming Systems”.
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As director general, he spread awareness among rice-growing families of making the value of each part of the rice crop. His leadership at IRRI was instrumental in the first World Food Prize being awarded to him. Later in 1984 he was conferred the responsibility of Presidentship of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Vice Presidentship of World Wildlife. Dr. Swaminathan mentored numerous Borlaug‐Ruan interns, part of the Borlaug Ruan International Internship.
Swaminathan established the Nuclear Research Laboratory at the IARI. He helped to build and develop a number of institutions and provided research support in China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Iran, and Cambodia. Dr Swaminathan co-chaired the United Nations Millennium Project on Hunger from 2002 to 2005. In 2005 Bruce Alberts, President of the US National Academy of Sciences said of Swaminathan, At 80, M.S. retains all the energy and idealism of his youth, and he continues to inspire good behaviour and more idealism from millions of his fellow human beings on this Earth. He studied Genetics and Plant Bio Diversity in Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi. In 1950, he moved to study at the Plant Breeding Institute of the University of Cambridge School He earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1952 for his thesis “Species Differentiation, and the Nature of Polyploidy in certain species of the genus Solanum – section Tuberarium.” in the United States he accepted a post-doctoral research associateship at the University of Wisconsin. His associateship with Nobel Laureate Joshua Lederburg ended in December 1953. Swaminathan turned down a faculty position in order to continue to make a difference back home in India.
One of the first national awards he received was the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in 1861. Following this he was conferred with the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Vibhushan Awards As of 2016; he had received 33 national and 32 international awards. In 2004, an agricultural think-tank in India named an annual award after Swaminathan, the eponymously named ‘Dr. M.S. Swaminathan Award for Leadership in Agriculture’. Swaminathan was the recipient of 84 honorary doctorates and was a guide for numerous Ph.D. scholars. Swaminathan published 46 single-author papers between 1950 and 1980. In total he had 254 papers to his credit, 155 of which he was the single or first author. Swaminathan was critical of India importing food grains when seventy percent of India was dependent on agriculture. Further drought and famine-like situations were developing in the country. It was for the excellent contribution of Dr. Swaminathan, wheat production doubled in just a few years, making the country self-sufficient and saving millions from extreme food deprivation.
China awarded him with the “Award for International Co-operation on Environment and Development”/The IRRI has named a building and a scholarship fund after him. His scientific papers are in the fields of crop improvement, cytogenetics and genetics and phylogenetics. In addition he has written a few books on the general theme of his life’s work, biodiversity and sustainable agriculture for alleviation of hunger. Swaminathan was a UNESCO fellow at the Wageningen Agricultural University’s institute of Genetics in the Netherlands. In his condolence message, Prime Minister Modi earnestly said, “Beyond his revolutionary contributions to agriculture, Dr. Swaminathan was a powerhouse of innovation and a nurturing mentor to many. His unwavering commitment to research and mentorship has left an indelible mark on countless scientists and innovators”.
Agriculture has traditionally been India’s most important economic sector. Over time, it has provided approximately one-third of the country’s gross domestic product and employed nearly two-thirds of its population. Farmers in India had long suffered from a lack of food security. In the 1960s, it was widely predicted by demographers and economists that population would outstrip food production in developing nations, leading to famine in India and throughout the rest of Asia. At the time, massive shipments of imported grain were the only means by which the continent was averting famine. In a word Dr Swaminathan changed the face of Agricultural India.
Still he had to face a lot of criticism While Dr. Swaminathan is known as, the main architect or the Father of the Green Revolution in India. Dilbagh Singh Athwal, is called the Father of the Wheat Revolution. The Green Revolution yielded great economic prosperity during its early years. In Punjab, where it was first introduced, the Green Revolution led to significant increases in the state’s agricultural output, supporting India’s overall economy. George Bernard Shaw long ago remarked,” There is no sincere love than the love of food” By 1970, Punjab was producing 70% of the country’s total food grain] and farmers’ incomes were increasing by over 70% Punjab’s prosperity following the Green Revolution became a model to which other states aspired to reach.]However, despite the initial prosperity experienced in Punjab, the Green Revolution was met with much controversy throughout India. Criticism of the effects of the green revolution includes the cost for many small farmers using HYV seeds, with their associated demands of increased irrigation systems and pesticides. India’s liberalized economy further exacerbated the farmers’ economic conditions.
However these cannot justify the critics of Green Revolution. For an agricultural country like India or Bangladesh, Agriculture is the backbone of the livelihood security system of nearly 700 million people in the country as Dr Swaminathan focused on the fact that ,” we need to build our food security on the foundation of home grown food.” If the First Green Revolution brought a new awareness about Nature, the Second Green Revolution is a change in agricultural production widely thought necessary to feed and sustain the growing population on Earth. These calls came about as a response to rising food commodity prices and fears of peak oil among other factors. With the demise of the Father of the first Green Revolution, an era of agricultural research came to an end.
India is now ready for the second Green Revolution. Massive crop diversification and multiple cropping is one of the key features of second green revolution. It aims for achieving self-sufficiency in pulses and oilseeds and doubling horticulture and floriculture would be doubled in five years. This is a natural continuation and not a counter movement in agricultural research. India will ever remember with respect the great Indian agricultural scientist as he ushered a revolution in India nearly six decades ago that helped and famine and transformed the country as a top producer of wheat. When accepting the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Swaminathan quoted Seneca “A hungry person listens neither to reason, nor to religion, nor is bent by any prayer. (The author is a multilingual writer is at present Affiliate Faculty in English in Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond. He can be reached at bhattacharjr@vcu.edu)
