Chennai : Renowned Indian agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan passed away in Chennai. He was ninety eight. Born on August 7, 1925 at Mankombu in Kuttanad taluk of Alappuzha district, MS Swaminathan aka Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan is known as the father of the Indian Green Revolution. Swaminathan played a pivotal role in the development of high-yielding seeds adapted to the Indian environment, revolutionizing agriculture by disseminating these innovations among farmers.
After earning his B.Sc from Maharaja’s College, Thiruvananthapuram, Swaminathan pursued studies at Madras Agricultural College in Agriculture. Subsequently, he joined the Indian Agricultural Institute in Delhi and pursued further studies in the Netherlands on a UNESCO scholarship. He obtained his PhD from Cambridge and conducted additional research at the University of Wisconsin. In 1954, he returned to India and joined the Central Rice Research Institute in Cuttack.
Collaborating with Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug, Swaminathan contributed significantly to the development of new wheat seeds. Borlaug acknowledged Swaminathan’s crucial role in the global Green Revolution during his Nobel Prize speech.
In recognition of his contributions, Swaminathan was honored with the first World Food Prize in 1987, leading to the establishment of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai. He received several prestigious awards, including the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Vibhushan. Swaminathan also earned the H K Firodia Award, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award, Indira Gandhi Prize, Ramon Magsaysay Award (1971), and the Albert Einstein World Science Award (1986).
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