Take It to the Farmer

Indian agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan is often recognized as the father of the Green Revolution in India. He is the first recipient of the World Food Prize, in 1987, for spearheading the introduction of high-yielding wheat and rice varieties among farmers of that nation. His research ultimately helped India end its reliance on grain imports. Swaminathan studied agriculture in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, earned a PhD in plant genetics from Cambridge, and continued his research in the United States. He began as a scientist with the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in the 1960s and subsequently held such positions as director general of the International Rice Research Center and chairman of the National Commission on Farmers for the Government of India. Swaminathan currently serves as chairman of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, holding its UNESCO Cousteau Chair in Ecotechnology.