The Sculptor of India's Green Revolution

M.S Swaminathan, the man who turned India from a "begging bowl” to a “breadbasket” overnight was born today in 1925. His life, however, was filled with obstacles and was not as smooth flowing.

Swaminathan in the fields; Image Source: M S Swaminathan Research Foundation

The ‘Father of India’s Green Revolution’ and one of the three Indians on Time’s list of 20 most influential Asian People of 20th Century was actually born in a small town named Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu.

His father was a surgeon who passed away when Swaminathan was just 11. Nevertheless, his uncle took the responsibility of raising the young boy. He passed matriculation at the age of 15 and decided to follow the family career line of pursuing medical.

While he was still in medical school, India witnessed its worst famine - the Great Bengal famine of 1943. Swaminathan was deeply hurt to learn of the condition of those afflicted by the calamity and decided to dedicate his life to eradicating hunger from India.

He made a switch from the medical field to the agricultural field. Swaminathan completed his Bachelor's in Science not just once but twice, one in zoology, the other in agricultural science.

Finally, in 1947, the year of Indian Independence saw him moving to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) as a postgraduate student in genetics and plant breeding. Being a fresh graduate in New Delhi opened a gateway of possibilities for him.

In 1949, he obtained a postgraduate degree in Cytogenetics - the branch of biology dealing with the study of chromosomes. Having obtained a postgraduate degree with high distinction attracted a lot of opportunities for him from around the world.

His education did not cease at this point. After standardized a gene transfer process at his fellowship in the Netherlands, Swaminathan studied plant breeding at Cambridge for a brief period of time. He also obtained his PhD after writing a thesis on "Species Differentiation, and the Nature of Polyploidy in certain species of the genus Solanum – section Tuberarium." He was truly a prodigy.

Finally, after accepting his postdoctoral position, Swaminathan returned to India in 1954. He began working as a scientist at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, his alma mater. It was here that he learnt about the Mexican dwarf variety of wheat and decided to invite its creator, Dr ****Norman Borlaug to India.

After this scientific breakthrough, Swaminathan also created new methods to teach Indian farmers how to effectively increase production through the employment of a combination of high-yielding wheat varieties, fertilizers, and more efficient farming techniques.

Throughout the later parts of his life, Swaminathan was thoroughly involved in the field of agriculture and aided in the processes of almost eradicating hunger.

At the age of 95, Swaminathan sits with pride, as he looks back at his achievements and awards like Padma Vibhushan and Padma Shri which still gleam very brightly from his trophy case at his house in Chennai.