Restoring farmers' faith in farming

Abstract

Professor M S Swaminathan has been acclaimed by TIME magazine as one of the most influential Asians of the 20th century and one of the only three from India other two being Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore. He has been described by the United Nations Environment Programme as "the Father of Economic Ecology" and Javier Perez de Cuellar; Secretary General of the United Nations, as "a living legend" will go into the annals of history as a world scientist of rare distinction". He was the Chairman of the UN Science Advisory Committee set up in 1980 to take follow-up on the Vienna Plan of Action. He has also served as Independent Chairman of the Council and President of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. He is presently the Chairman of National Commission on Farmers, Govt. of India; Chairman, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation and President of Nationla Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

A plant geneticist by training, Professor Swaminathan's contributions to the agriculture renaissance of India have led to his being widely referred to as the scientific leader of the green revolution movement. His advocacy of sustainable agriculture leading to ever-green revolution makes him and acknowledged world leader in the field of sustainable food security. The International Association of Women and Development conferred on him the first international award for significant contributions to propagate the knowledge, skill, and technological empowerment of women in agriculture and his pioneering role in mainstreaming gender considerations in agriculture and development. Professor Swaminathan was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 1971, the Albert Eisnstein World Science Award in 1980, the first World Food Prize in 1987.

Professor Swaminathan is a Fellow of many of the leading scientific academies of the world, including the Royal Society of London and the US National Academy of Sciences. He has received 46 honorary doctorate degrees from universities around the world.