Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, an eminent and highly decorated agricultural scientist who was credited with the "green revolution" in Indian agriculture, died on 28 September 2023.  He was 98 years old and was ailing for many years. 

I met Dr. Swaminathan (MSS) for the first time in 1981 in New Delhi. I had just returned from the US and had joined the Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) in Phaltan, Maharashtra which was started by my father-in-law, Mr. B. V. Nimbkar.

MSS and Mr. Nimbkar were friends and had known each other since the early 1970s.  MSS also inaugurated our Institute building in Phaltan in 1980 and helped us in many agricultural-related issues both as a scientist and as an administrator in ICAR. 

So in 1981 when I had gone to Delhi for some work my father-in-law, Mr Nimbkar advised me to go and meet MSS. At that time MSS was a member of the Planning Commission.  We had a cordial meeting and he suggested that we should work on various agricultural-related technologies. 

Clarity of thought and ideas

After that, I met him in many meetings, and even visited his Swaminathan Foundation in 1998 in Chennai when it was in its nascent stages. He very graciously and personally took me around showing me the buildings and the rainwater harvesting system that was installed in it. We were also together in the Jamnalal Bajaj Awards committee in different sections and so met once a year during the awards function. He was always cordial and soft-spoken. 

He was very sharp and scholarly with a tremendous grasp of fundamentals. In 1985 we were together in Pune attending a national meet on biomass energy.  After his chief guest lecture, I saw MSS sitting the whole day listening to other lectures and taking notes.  Normally, VIPs give their talk and leave. To me, that was not only a sign of a good scientist but a curious person who was eager to find out what others had to say in their presentations. 

Similarly, in 2011, I was invited to be the chief guest at a seminar in New Delhi.  The seminar was on food security. Dr.  Swaminathan could not come in the morning and hence he gave his keynote speech in the afternoon. He was also gracious enough to mention what I had said in the morning. 

He had clarity of thought and was able to grasp the subject and present it in a pithy manner.  That was the reason why lots of politicians and high-ranking people in the government sought his advice since he could explain complex issues clearly and succinctly.  

Architects of 'Green Revolution' 

People call him the "Father of Green Revolution" in India, but he was actually only one of the three architects of the revolution who have not got their share of the credit.  Others were C. Subramanian the former agriculture minister, and B. Sivaraman, then cabinet secretary. Though Swaminathan got the high-yielding Mexican seeds, developed by Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug, the funds and resources to import 18,000 tonnes of seeds from Mexico in 1966 were provided in a timely manner by Subramanian and Sivaraman. All three of them worked in tandem to create the revolution. 

One of the most important things that MSS did was to get recognition for agriculture and agricultural scientists. He streamlined the recruitment process, got them government awards, and raised their status in the eyes of the government and the general public.  This helped improve the morale of agricultural scientists. 

He was a nominated Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament and a member of various government committees. The last major assignment that he took was the Chairmanship of the Farmers Commission which was set up by the government in 2004. The report had flaws and was criticized.  Probably that is the reason why it was never implemented. 

MSS was mired in quite a few controversies. People accused him of fabricating and falsifying data. Reading about the whole issue now and in hindsight one can conjecture that he could have handled it more properly by being humble enough to admit his mistakes and withdraw the paper.   It is also quite probable that he was subject to attacks by people who were jealous of his green revolution success. 

Nevertheless, his legacy of scholarship and good work is continuing now in his Swaminathan Foundation by his distinguished and talented three daughters. 

(The writer, an IIT and US-educated Indian engineer,  a 2022 Padma Shri award winner, is the Director, of Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute, Phaltan, Maharashtra. Views are personal. He can be reached at anilrajvanshi@gmail.com)