Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan: A national programme to ... - Vigyan Prasar

0
Dr. M. S. Swaminathan
Maankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan was born on 7 August 1925 in
Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu. This famous geneticist is known as the man
behind India’s ‘Green Revolution’, a programme, which revolutionised
India’s farming scenario by introducing high yielding crops. The Time
magazine placed him in the Time’s 20 list of most influential Asian people
of 20th century. He is founder and Chairman of the M S Swaminathan
Research Foundation in Chennai.
His physician father was an ardent follower of Gandhiji and it
instilled a sense of patriotism in him. In college, he rejected more lucrative
professions and studied agriculture. He almost became a police officer,
but a 1949 fellowship to study genetics in the Netherlands changed his
career path. In 1952, he earned his PhD in genetics from Cambridge
University and then did further studies at Wisconsin University in the
US. There he turned down a professorship. He was clear about coming
back to India and work here for the betterment of our country’s poor
food scenario. He nurtured a vision to see a world devoid of hunger and
poverty and advocated the cause of sustainable development. He also
emphasised on preservation of biodiversity. Swaminathan brought
into India seeds developed in Mexico by US agricultural guru Norman
Borlaug and after cross-breeding them with local species created
a wheat plant that yielded much more grain than traditional types.