According to PM Modi, MS Swaminathan, who is regarded as the founder of the Green Revolution in India, will receive the Bharat Ratna. Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared on Friday that the late, renowned agriculture scientist Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan will be awarded the Bharat Ratna. PM Modi shared a photo of himself with MS Swaminathan on X. He wrote that the late scientist was someone he knew closely and that he always valued his values and contributions.
The Government of India is extremely happy to bestow the Bharat Ratna upon Dr. MS Swaminathan Ji in acknowledgement of his outstanding contribution to agriculture, which was crucial in helping the country become self-sufficient in agriculture during difficult times. We also acknowledge his tremendous contribution as a mentor, innovator, and motivator of learning and research among a number of students. PM Modi stated on X that Dr. Swaminathan’s inspirational leadership has not only revolutionized Indian agriculture but has additionally guaranteed the country’s prosperity and food security.
MS Swaminathan: Who was he?
MS Swaminathan, who was born on August 7, 1925, worked as an administrator, plant geneticist, agronomist, and agriculture scientist. In India, he was referred to as the father of the Green Revolution.
In 1949, Swaminathan started studying the genetic makeup of potatoes, wheat, rice, and jute. He was instrumental in creating high-yielding paddy varieties that increased yield for India’s low-income farmers. Awarded the title of father of economic ecology by the United Nations Environment Programme, he collaborated with several agriculture ministers, such as C. Subramaniam and Jagjivan Ram, in the 1960s and 1970s to successfully implement the Green Revolution in India. This initiative facilitated the exponential increase in wheat and rice productivity by utilizing chemical-biological technology.
Additionally. Swaminathan held administrative roles in several labs conducting agriculture research. He was the International Rice Research Institute’s director general, as well as the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. In 1979, he also held the position of principal secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture. He later presided over the International Union for the Preservation of Nature and Natural Assets as its president. Swaminathan was named the National Commission on Farmers’ Chair in 2004.
The late scientist received the Albert Einstein World Science Prize in 1986 as well as the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1971. After receiving the inaugural World Food Prize in 1987, he founded the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai.
Additionally, Swaminathan supported a number of international agriculture and environmental projects. Time magazine listed him as one of the 20 most significant Asians of the 20th century. At the age of 98, MS Swaminathan passed away in the month of September of last year. His three daughters are his living relatives; his wife, Mina, passed away in 2022.
