M. S. Swaminathan

M. S. Swaminathan

Swaminathan at the 100th Indian Science Congress
Born (1925-08-07) 7 August 1925
Kumbakonam
Madras Presidency
Residence Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Citizenship India
Nationality Indian
Fields Agricultural science
Institutions MS Swaminathan Research Foundation
Alma mater H H M University College Thiruvananthapuram
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Known for High-yielding varieties of wheat in India
Influences Dr. Norman Borlaug
Notable awards Padma Shri (1967)
Ramon Magsaysay (1971)
Padma Bhushan (1972)
Albert Einstein World Award of Science (1986)
Padma Vibhushan (1989)
World Food Prize (1987)
Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (1991)
Volvo Environment Prize (1999)
Indira Gandhi Peace Prize(1999)
Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration (2013)
Spouse Mina Swaminathan
Children Soumya Swaminathan

Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan (born 7 August 1925) is an Indian geneticist and international administrator, renowned for his leading role in India's Green Revolution a program under which high-yield varieties of wheat and rice seedlings were planted in the fields of poor farmers. Swaminathan is known as "Indian Father of Green Revolution" for his leadership and success in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat in India. He is the founder and chairman of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation.[1] His stated vision is to rid the world of hunger and poverty.[2] Swaminathan is an advocate of moving India to sustainable development, especially using environmentally sustainable agriculture, sustainable food security and the preservation of biodiversity, which he calls an "evergreen revolution."[3]

From 1972 to 1979 he was director general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. He was Principal Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture from 1979 to 1980. He served as Director General of the International Rice Research Institute (1982–88) and became president of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in 1988.

In 1999, Time magazine placed him in the 'Time 20' list of most influential Asian people of the 20th century.[4]

Early life and education

M. S. Swaminathan was born in Kumbakonam on 7 August 1925. He was the second son of surgeon Dr. M.K. Sambasivan and Parvati Thangammal Sambasivan. M.S. Swaminathan learnt from his father, "that the word 'impossible' exists mainly in our minds and that given the requisite will and effort, great tasks can be accomplished." Surgeon M.K. Sambasivam, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi, took the lead in Kumbakonam in "burning his foreign clothes," a symbolic act in support of the Swadeshi movement: which emphasized the use of Indian rather than foreign-made clothes, and handloomed rather than mill-spun cloth. The political purpose of the swadeshi movement was to free India from dependence on foreign imports and to protect village industry. His father led in opening the temples to Dalits, part of the temple entry movement of the Indian independence movement in Tamil Nadu, and in eradicating filariasis in Kumbakonom, an area long infected with the dread disease. The sense of service to one's fellow man was thus ingrained in him early.

After his father's death when he was 11, young Swaminathan was looked after by his uncle, M. K. Narayanaswami, a radiologist. He attended the local high school and later the Catholic Little Flower High School in Kumbakonom, from which he matriculated at age 15.[5] He then went to finish his undergraduate degree at Maharajas College in Trivandrum, Kerala (now known as University College, Thiruvananthapuram). He studied there from 1940–44 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology.

Early career

Swaminathan then decided to pursue a career in agricultural sciences. He enrolled in Madras Agricultural College ( now the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University ) where he graduated as valedictorian with another Bachelor of Science degree, this time in Agricultural Science. He explained this career decision thus: "My personal motivation started with the great Bengal famine of 1943, when I was a student at the University of Kerala. There was an acute rice shortage, and in Bengal about 3 million people died from starvation. All of our young people, myself included, were involved in the freedom struggle, which Gandhi had intensified, and I decided I should take to agricultural research in order to help farmers produce more."[6]

In 1947, the year of Indian independence he moved to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in New Delhi as a post-graduate student in genetics and plant breeding. He obtained a post-graduate degree with high distinction in Cytogenetics in 1949. He wrote the Union Public Service Commission exam and qualified for the Indian Police Service.[7]

He chose to accept the UNESCO Fellowship to continue his IARI research on potato genetics at the Wageningen Agricultural University, Institute of Genetics in the Netherlands. Here he succeeded in standardising procedures for transferring genes from a wide range of wild species of Solanum to the cultivated potato, Solanum tuberosum. In 1950, he moved to study at the Plant Breeding Institute of the University of Cambridge School of Agriculture. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1952, for his thesis, "Species Differentiation, and the Nature of Polyploidy in certain species of the genus Solanum – section Tuberarium." His work presented a new concept of the species relationships within the tuber-bearing Solanum. His Cambridge college, Fitzwilliam, made him an Honorary Fellow in 2014.[8]

Swaminathan then accepted a post-doctoral research associateship at the University of Wisconsin, Department of Genetics to help set up a USDA potato research station. Despite his strong personal and professional satisfaction with the research work in Wisconsin, he declined the offer of a full-time faculty position, returning to India in early 1954.[9]

Professional achievements

Swaminathan has worked worldwide in collaboration with colleagues and students on a wide range of problems in basic and applied plant breeding, agricultural research and development and the conservation of natural resources.

His professional career began in 1949:

Notable mentions

On the occasion of the presentation of the First World Food Prize[28] to Swaminathan in October 1987, Javier Perez de Cuellar, Secretary General of the United Nations, wrote: "Dr. Swaminathan is a living legend. His contributions to Agricultural Science have made an indelible mark on food production in India and elsewhere in the developing world. By any standards, he will go into the annals of history as a world scientist of rare distinction."

Swaminathan has been described by the United Nations Environment Programme as "the Father of Economic Ecology."

He was one of three from India included in Time magazine's 1999 list of the "20 most influential Asian people of the 20th century," the other two being Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.[29]

Swaminathan was the featured speaker at the 2006 Norman E. Borlaug International Symposium in Des Moines, Iowa on, 19 October 2006. He was sponsored by Humanities Iowa, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Swaminathan presented the "Third Annual Governor's Lecture" and spoke on "THE GREEN REVOLUTION REDUX: Can we replicate the single greatest period of food production in all human history?"[30][31][32] about the cultural and social foundations of the Green Revolution in India and the role of historic leaders in India, such as Mahatma Gandhi, in inspiring the Green Revolution there by calling for the alleviation of widespread hunger. He talked about the links between Gandhi and the great Iowa scientist George Washington Carver.[33]

Swaminathan is a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Italian Academy of Sciences.

Publications

Dr Swaminathan is a prolific scientific researcher and writer. He published 46 single-author papers between 1950 and 1980. Out of 118 two author papers, he was first author of 80. Out of 63 three-author papers he was first author of 15. Out of 21 four-author papers he was first author of 9. In total he had 254 papers to his credit, 155 of which he was the singleor first author. His scientific papers are in the fields of crop improvement (95), cytogenetics and genetics (87) and phylogenetics (72). His most frequent publishers were Indian Journal of Genetics (46), Current Science (36), Nature (12) and Radiation Botany (12).[34] Some of the papers are listed below.

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's books include

"Sustainable Agriculture: Towards Food Security"[40]

Research reports He has published laboratory research results in several scientific journals and increasingly writes for a wider audience in environmental journals. Some of his publications are available online in abstract or full text.[43] and.[44]

A scientific paper in which Swaminathan and his team claimed to have produced a mutant breed of wheat by gamma irradiation of a Mexican variety (Sonora 64) resulting in Sharbati Sonora claimed to have a very high lysine content led to a major controversy. The case was discussed as a classic example of scientific misdemeanor and was claimed to be an error made by the laboratory assistant.[45] The episode was also compounded by the suicide of an agricultural scientist.[46][47][48][49][50] Recent workers have studied it as part of a systemic problem in Indian agriculture research.[51]

Honours, awards and international recognition

Swaminathan has received several outstanding awards and prizes. These prizes include large sums of money, which has helped sustain and expand his work.

He holds more than 50 honorary Doctorate degrees from universities around the world.

National Awards
He has been honoured with several awards in India for his work to benefit the country.

International Awards
He has been honoured with recognition from several international organisations for spreading the benefits of his work to other countries.

Fellowships[67]

Critics

Despite these awards and honours, the credibility of Swaminathan and his promotion of biotechnology remains open to question by some. His record retains some controversy. There are cases of scientific fraud and scandals involving the suicide of a fellow scientist at the ICAR.[68] The first among those who came to expose many of the claims made by MS Swaminathan was Claude Alvares. In his article The Great Gene Robbery 23 March 1986 The Illustrated Weekly.[69] Alvares provided arguments to show that most of the research that was initiated by him and the International Rice Research Institute was not original.[70] Shiv Vishwanathan in an EPW[71] article wrote he is a sociological phenomenon. He is paradigm, exemplar, dissenter, critic and alternative. .....Swaminathan always assimilates the new. Claude Alvares gives a different picture:

Strangely, he has become more and more akin to HYV of the seeds he sells. Like them, he is capable of high-yielding varieties of phrase and word. At a Gandhi seminar, he will speak of the relevance of Gandhi. At a meeting in Madras on the necessity of combine harvesters. At another meeting on appropriate technology, he will plump for organic manures. At a talk in London, he will speak on the necessity of chemical fertilizers. He will label slum dwellers ‘ecological refugees’, and advertise his career as a quest for ‘imparting an ecological basis to productivity improvement.’ This, after presiding over, and indiscriminately furthering, one of the ecologically most devastating technologies of modern times – the HYV package of the Green revolution.[72]

Current work

Further reading

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.mssrf.org/about_us/about_chairman.htm
  2. ↑ barunroy (27 February 2009). "SIKKIM: Prof MS Swaminathan appointed as Chancellor of Sikkim University". The Himalayan Beacon. Darjeeling: Beacon Publications. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
  3. ↑ "Now for the evergreen revolution: Prof. MS Swaminathan, a pioneer of India's green revolution, calls for a new approach to world farming". For A Change. 2001.
  4. ↑ Asians of the Century: A Tale of Titans, TIME 100: 23–30 AUGUST 1999 VOL. 154 NO. 7/8
  5. ↑ The 1971 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership "BIOGRAPHY of Moncompu Sambasivan Swaminathan"/ Retrieved on 26 March 2013
  6. ↑ SGI Quarterly, A Buddhist forum for peace, culture and education "An Evergreen Revolution, Interview with M.S. Swaminathan" Retrieved on 26 March 2013
  7. ↑ 996 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 101, NO. 8, 25 OCTOBER 2011 "IN CONVERSATION M. S. Swaminathan" Retrieved on 26 March 2013
  8. ↑ , 'Professor M S Swaminathan is new Honorary Fellow'. Fitzwilliam College. 28.11.14.
  9. ↑ http://www.worldfoodprize.org/laureates/Past/1987.htm
  10. ↑ Arthur, J. Richard, Technical Cooperation Programme Assistance for Responsible Movement of Live Aquatic Animals, FAO Field Document No. 2, TCP/RAS /6714(A), Bangkok, July 1998
  11. ↑ Bioversity International
  12. ↑ Ministry of Environment & Forests, Forest Survey of India, Dehradun
  13. ↑ FAO, Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
  14. ↑ International Genetics Federation, International Congress of Genetics
  15. ↑ UNDP, UNEP, The World Bank, World Resources Institute, "World Resources 2005 – The Wealth of the Poor: Managing ecosystems to fight poverty", 2005.
  16. ↑ Final Consensus Report of the Keystone International Dialogue Series on Plant Genetic Resources: Madras Plenary Session, February 1990, Report # 27
  17. ↑ World Wide Fund for Nature/India
  18. ↑ Indira Gandhi Conservation Monitoring Centre
  19. ↑ REPORT OF AN "AD HOC" INTER AGENCY CONSULTATION ON PROMOTING CO-OPERATION ON THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF WILD PLANTS OF IMPORTANCE FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE PARIS, FRANCE, 11–13 February 1998, p.7
  20. ↑ Commonwealth and Government of Guyana Establish International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development, 9 November 1995.
  21. ↑ "Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development, "The Establishment of Iwokrama Forest"
  22. ↑ International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems (ISME), about
  23. ↑ Legislation on Forest, Environment and Wildlife – Biodiversity
  24. ↑ http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/01/10/stories/2006011000831000.htm
  25. ↑ World Humanity Action Trust
  26. ↑ Gene Conserve, Biography: "Swaminathan's Fifty Years of Contribution to the Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources and their Sustainable and Equitable Use."
  27. ↑ UN Millennium Task Force on Hunger, Final Report, 17 January 2005
  28. ↑ World Food Prize, Prof. Swaminathan, 1987 World Food Prize Laureate
  29. ↑ Ganguly, Meenakshi, Spaeth, A. "M.S. Swaminathan – The father of the Green Revolution", Time, The Most Influential Asians of the Century, 23–30 August 1999 154(7/8)
  30. ↑ Swaminathan M. S. (19 October 2006) "THE GREEN REVOLUTION REDUX:" Full text
  31. ↑ See: Powerpoint Presentation, Swaminathan M. S. (19 October 2006) "'HE GREEN REVOLUTION REDUX:", PowerPoint Presentation
  32. ↑ Hear: Swaminathan M. S. (19 October 2006) "THE GREEN REVOLUTION REDUX:", (26.3 MB, 1:05:31)Audio of the First session, M. S. Swaminathin begins at 44:35
  33. ↑ World Food Prize Symposium (19 October 2006), Norman E. Borlaug International Symposium, Des Moines, Iowa, retrieved 22 March 2007.
  34. ↑ Kalyane, V. L. and Kalyane, S. V. (1994) Scientometric portrait of M. S. Swaminathan. Library Science 31(1):pp. 31–46.
  35. ↑ Swaminathan M.S.,"An Evergreen Revolution", Crop Sci 46:2293–2303 (2006), doi:10.2135/cropsci2006.9999, 8 September 2006 Full text
  36. ↑ Swaminathan M.S., (1999)"I Predict: A Century of Hope Towards an Era of Harmony with Nature and Freedom from Hunger", East West Books (Madras) Pvt. Ltd.[]
  37. ↑ Swaminathan MS, ed., (1998) "Gender Dimensions in Biodiversity Management", New Delhi: Konark Publishers Pvt Ltd.
  38. ↑ M.S. Swaminathan (1997), "Implementing the Benefit Sharing Provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity: Challenges and opportunities", Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter, No.112, pp 19–27.
  39. ↑ Swaminathan MS, Agrobiodiversity and Farmers' Rights, 1996. New Delhi: Konark Publishers Pvt Ltd.
  40. ↑ Swaminathan, M.S.,(1996) "Sustainable Agriculture: Towards Food Security", Konark, New Delhi.
  41. ↑ M.S. Swaminathan (ed.) (1995), Farmers’ Rights and Plant Genetic Resources: A dialogue. Madras: Macmillan India Ltd.
  42. ↑ Swaminathan MS (ed) (1993) Wheat Revolution: a Dialogue. Madras, Macmillan India Ltd.
  43. ↑ National Center for Biotechnology Information, Literature databases, Swaminathan MS, search result
  44. ↑ U.S.D.A., National Agricultural Library, Agricola, search: Swaminathan, M. S., result = 198 articles.
  45. ↑ Kohn, Alexander (1997) False Prophets: Fraud An Error In Science And Medicine.
  46. ↑ Hanlon, Joseph Top food scientist published false data. New Scientist Vol. 64, No. 922, pp. 436–37
  47. ↑ Robert S. Anderson 1983 Cultivating Science as Cultural Policy: A Contrast of Agricultural and Nuclear Science in India. Pacific Affairs, Vol. 56, No. 1 pp. 38–50
  48. ↑ New Scientist. "Defence of Swaminathan" (letters). New Scientist, 1975 (30 January): 280–281.
  49. ↑ New Scientist. "Swaminathan controversy" (letters). New Scientist, 1975 (February): 339.
  50. ↑ New Scientist. "Swaminathan controversy" (letters). New Scientist, 1974 (26 December): 948.
  51. ↑ Rajeswari Sarala Raina (1999) Professionalization and evaluation: The case of Indian agricultural research. Knowledge, Technology, and Policy. Volume 11, Number 4 pp. 69–96
  52. ↑ UNEP, Sasakawa Environment Prize, previous Laureates, co-winners 94
  53. ↑ Honda Foundation, About the award
  54. 1 2 "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  55. ↑ "Albert Einstein World Award of Science 1986". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  56. ↑ List of Fellows of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences
  57. ↑ the Hindu, "Country should move to evergreen revolution.", 31 March 2004.
  58. ↑ Suresh,N, BioSpectrum Awards 2003, The search for Biotech greats, 12 December 2003.
  59. ↑ The Times of India
  60. ↑ The WILD World Network: World Wilderness Trust – India 1999
  61. ↑ Bose Institute, Kolkata
  62. ↑ Indian Environmental Society
  63. ↑ Indian Botanical Society, MEDALS AWARDED BY THE SOCIETY, Birbal Sahni Medal.
  64. ↑ http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/ms-swaminathan-gets-indira-gandhi-national-integration-award/article5221437.ece
  65. ↑ The Volvo Environment Prize Foundation, The 1990 Volvo Environment Prize awarded to Dr. M. S. Swaminathan
  66. ↑ Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID)
  67. ↑ "NAAS Fellow". National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  68. ↑ GM WATCH, "India's GM Godfather", Profile: M S Swaminathan, Norfolk Genetic Information (NGIN) Network, 10/8/2004.
  69. ↑ http://swamiscapers.blogspot.com/2007/04/great-gene-robbery-by-claude-alvares.html
  70. ↑ Swaminathan as king of scientific frauds M.S. Dalit Voice
  71. ↑ http://www.epw.org.in/uploads/articles/4318.pdf
  72. ↑ http://corruptionfree.wordpress.com/2006/08/04/father-of-poverty-hunger-in-india-%E2%80%93-quack-m-s-swaminathan/
  73. ↑ UNESCO, UNITWIN, Chairs Programme, Directory, India, 104 AEN, UNESCO-Cousteau Ecotechnie Chair/The Asian Ecotechnology Network, 1996, p.463.
  74. ↑ National Commission on Farmers, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India
  75. ↑ Mission 2007: Every Village a Knowledge Centre, 2005
  76. ↑ MSSRF, Mission 2007: Every Village a Knowledge Centre, 2005
  77. ↑ Alberts, Bruce, president – National Academy of Sciences, Washington D.C., "The M. S. Swaminathan I know", Current Science, vol. 89, NO. 2, 25 August 2005,
  78. ↑ Leadership Council members from the website of the Compact 2025 partnership

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