Opinion

M S Swaminathan: The man for all seasons

The Father of India’s Green Revolution who turned famine into food security

October 6, 2025

How M S Swaminathan transformed Indian agriculture

Every year, when it is time to declare the annual Nobel Prize, the entire staff at Chennai’s M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) would be on tenterhooks. They would be waiting with bated breath for the announcement of the prize, which is declared around 3.30 pm. The only person whoremained unperturbed wasProf. M S Swaminathan, the individualwho played a major role in making India self-reliant in agriculture.

When he joined the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) as its Director General and Secretary to the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Government of India, in 1972, the country was undergoing its worst phase in grain production. It was a period of ship-to-mouth existence for the people of India. Famine, drought, poor irrigation facilities, and the age-old system of farming had caused havoc in the country’s agricultural production. Terms like hybrid seeds, modern agriculture practices, fertilizers, and gadgets like tractors and technological innovations in the field of agriculture were alien to the farming community. The Prime Minister of the country herself told the people to skip one meal every day so that the have-nots get something to eat!

The Nehruvian socialism and five-year plans have destroyed whatever spirit and enthusiasm remained among the farmers. The policymakers found an easy way out. Even as India followed the policy of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), by being a satellite country of the USSR, it fawned on the USA for subsidized grains under the PL-480 policy. PL-480 was the abbreviation for Public Law 480, a legislation that allowed the US President to authorize the shipment of surplus commodities to friendly countries at concessional rates. We saw the then Iron Lady of India begging with the US administration for shipment of subsidized grains to India so that the people could have at least two square meals a day.

It was at this juncture that Prof Swaminathan was appointed as the secretary to the Department of Agriculture, the first non-IAS officer who had ever been appointed to hold that position. Having worked with politicians and bureaucrats (Sarkari babus), Professor Swaminathan was familiar with their style and modus operandi. As N A Palkhivala, eminent jurist, used to tell, ours was the only country in the world in whose national language the same word kal was used to denote yesterday and tomorrow. This was anathema to agriculture, Swaminathan used to tell. “Anything can wait but not agriculture,” he reminded the rulers, policy makers, bankers, and agricultural experts.

What made Swaminathan stand out from conventional scientists and bureaucrats was his in-depth knowledge about the farm lands, farmers, vagaries of the Indian Monsoon, and the financial assistance required by the farming community. Since the day he took over as the director general of ICAR and secretary to the Department of Agriculture, farming in India has seen a major revolution. He led the scientists, bureaucrats, agriculture teachers, and students to the fields. What the country experienced was the phenomenon “From Lab to Farm,” so that all those associated with agriculture got a hands-on experience of the nuances of farming. It took years for the monolithic system in the country to move and adapt to the reforms suggested by Swaminathan.

It was in 1964 that the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri brought together the three ‘Ss‘ – Swaminathan, S Subramanian, the then minister for agriculture and food, and B Sivaraman, a senior IAS officer- to resolve the perennial problem of food shortage haunting India. Prof Swaminathan had already launched a research project with Norman Borlaug, the US-born farm scientist was a specialist in plant pathology and genetics, and he introduced the former to hybrid seeds. Swaminathan firmly believed that it was time conventional farm practices gave way to modern technology. The experiment he launched with Borlaug turned out to be India’s Green Revolution, and within a few decades, the country became self-reliant in food production.

The evolution of the Green Revolution and the life and times of Prof M S Swaminathan have been vividly portrayed by Priyambada Jayakumar in the book “The Man Who Fed India”, the story of Swaminathan from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu across the globe, and how TIME weekly rated him as one of the hundred powerful persons in the world.

The ace scientist is respected widely for the Green Revolution that elevated the country from a food-scarce nation to a food-surplus nation. But what remains untold is Swaminathan’s success in integrating science, technology, and innovation into agriculture. Way back in the 1960s, 70s, and to a certain extent most part of the 1980s, we did not have a proper weather forecast system, a factor which is as important as the seeds, the crops, and fertilizers. The All India Radio’s weather bulletins went like this: “It may or may not rain. According to the Indian Meteorological Department, the South West Monsoon is likely to hit the Indian East Coast in the next three weeks”. These bulletins found their way to stand-up comedies during those days. It has changed and changed for the better.

There are many varieties of hybrid seeds available in the market today. But problems like irrigation and water scarcity continue tormenting the farmers. Prof Swaminathan was a strong proponent of the interlinking of peninsular Indian rivers. If the west-flowing rivers like Kaveri and east-flowing rivers like Godavari, Krishna are interlinked through a network of canals, the “eternal” problem of water scarcity tormenting the people could be solved once and for ever. Our farming operations are dependent on the monsoon. If the monsoon fails, agriculture in India will come to a standstill, and it will affect the GDP. The water that is wasted to the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal could be directed to reservoirs like Mettur Dam, and this is capable of meeting the irrigation and drinking water requirements of Tamil Nadu. Besides this, the ILR project is capable of resolving many issues. But there is a section among our intelligentsia who do not want to see a developed India, and they vehemently oppose this mission. The Maoists and two prominent religious groups prop up the opponents of this project, and it remains on paper. Swaminathan was for interlinking the rivers and had spoken eloquently on the issue. But after watching the pseudo intellectuals fighting to subvert the project, he fell silent. “We have to reach a consensus before going ahead with the interlinking of rivers. Till then, let’s avoid confrontation and wait for better sense to prevail,” he had told this writer many times.

As a journalist covering the science and technology beat, the MSSRF used to be a port of call for me every other day. Prof Swaminathan was always willing to help with inputs with which reports could be filed regularly. He had an array of plant scientists and genetics specialists lined up in MSSRF who were into developing all varieties of seeds and stem cell technology. Taking into account the vulnerability of drought in south India and the possibility of seawater intruding into farm lands, Swaminathan and his team, which included Ajay Parida, Rajalakshmi, and Sudha Nair, had developed a saline-resistant rice seed. Last heard, it was still in the laboratory waiting for clearance from the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee.

The Vajpayee-led NDA government had appointed Swaminathan as chairman of the National Farmers’ Commission in 2003. Though the commission had submitted a report to the Government of India in 2006 with suggestions and proposals to make farming a viable and profitable livelihood, no action was taken by the UPA government led by the Congress, as there were ministers and bureaucrats in the corridors of power whose only objective was to derail the Swaminathan committee report. Prof Swaminathan had suggested a minimum support price (MSP) for all crops, which included the cost of production plus 50 percent of the same to meet the expenses incurred by the farmers.

He also emphasized the importance of increasing the productivity of India’s agriculture and bringing down the cost of production so that the country’s farm products would become competitive in the global market. His suggestion to declare 60,000 villages as pulse villages for exclusive cultivation of cereals and pulses was approved in principle and found its way into the 2009-2010 budget speech of the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. “But the allocation was so small that each village would have barely got Rs.50,000/. Revenue forgone in corporate taxes is Rs.3.75 lakh crore, and you give Rs.300 crore for a second Green Revolution. It is all lip service,” said a visibly upset Prof Swaminathan.

No human being is immortal, and Swaminathan was no exception. He lived up to the age of 98, and even as he was walking towards the sun, his mind was preoccupied with the thoughts of how to improve the quality of farmers. What stands out in the teachings of Swaminathan was his success in removing the notion that agriculture was an occupation confined to farm lands. He taught us that more than sowing and harvesting, agriculture also includes dairying, poultry, and women empowerment. Swaminathan could be the pioneer in integrating space technology for the betterment of farm operations.

The author’s comments about the three farm bills introduced in Parliament by the NDA government, and which were withdrawn after the pre-planned agitation across north India, need closer scrutiny. The so-called farmers who landed in the national capital from states like Punjab, Haryana, HP, UP, and even Tamil Nadu were landlords and millionaires. Most of them were seen arriving in their imported SUVs to stage a demonstration alleging that the farm bills were detrimental to the interests of the farmers. A farm leader by the name Ponnuchany Ayyadurai and his team from Tamil Nadu came wearing loin loincloth to drive home the plight of farmers. They acted as if they were eating soil, rats, and bandicoots. Well, Swaminathan indeed welcomed the repealing of the bills, but the author is silent about what he had said before the same was introduced in Parliament. Though the government had set apart three or four days of the Houses’ proceedings for discussing the various aspects of the bill, the Opposition brought the House to a standstill by shouting slogans inside the House and displaying placards condemning the proposed legislation. I remember watching the acrobatics performed by members of the Opposition who tore the Bills and threw them at the chair. The then chairman, M Venkaiah Naidu, turned emotional, wept, and then pleaded with the members to cooperate with the House in the debate and discussion. Situation in Lok Sabha was no different, and independent India has not seen such despicable behavior from any members in the parliamentary history.

As Ajay Parida (who is unfortunately no more with us) used to tell, Prof Swaminathan had time for everybody. “He would give a patient hearing to all, whether it is the farm laborer, agriculturist, or scientist. For him, all were important and listening to them helped him evolve ideas, solutions, and new avenues,” Parida had said about his mentor.

All one could say after knowing about Swaminathan is “Thank you so much, Professor, for giving us our day’s food”. A person who had known Swaminathan for a long time would have given us a scintillating biography of Swaminathan.[1]

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

Reference:

[1] M.S. Swaminathan: The Man Who Fed India By Priyambada Jayakumar – Aug 5, 2025, Adda247

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