Bharat Ratna for MS Swaminathan

Context (PIB | IE | TH): The PM announced that Dr MS Swaminathan, known for his pivotal role in the Green Revolution, will be conferred the highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna.

Significance of MS Swaminathan

Called the Father of the Green Revolution in India.
Helped India achieve self-reliance in agriculture during challenging times (1960’s-70’s).
Efforts towards modernising Indian agriculture.
Ensured the nation’s food security and prosperity.
He recommended that the Minimum Support Price should be at least 50 per cent more than the weighted average cost of production.

Born in Kumbakonam, Madras Presidency, on August 7, 1925.
The experience of the Bengal famine in 1943 during the Second World War motivated him to commit his life to ensuring the food security of India.
In 1944, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Science from the University of Madras.
Later, he moved to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in New Delhi to study genetics and plant breeding.
In 1949, he obtained a post-graduate degree in cytogenetics.
He returned to India in 1954 after completing the Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1952 & post-doctoral research associateship at various universities in abroad.
He died on September 28, 2023, in Chennai at the age of 98.

The first attempt to develop high-yielding varieties: He started working on transferring genes for fertiliser response from Japonica varieties to Indica varieties.

Indica and japonica rice are two main subspecies of Asian varieties.
Indica rice is mainly cultivated in tropical and subtropical environments at lower latitudes or altitudes.
On the other hand, japonica rice is grown mainly in more temperate environments at higher latitudes or altitudes.

Developing semi-dwarf wheat varieties using mutagenesis: it involves exposing plants to chemicals or radiation to lower the plant height (it didn’t work). The lowering of plant heights led to a simultaneous reduction in the size of the grain-bearing panicles.
His relationship with other stalwarts helped him achieve the Wheat Revolution in India.

He played a role in developing a dwarf wheat called Gaines, which had a high yield.
It contained dwarfing genes from a dwarf wheat called the Norin-10.
Swaminathan contacted him to get help for developing a ‘dwarf wheat’ in India.
Since Vogel was unsure of the wheat’s potential in the Indian climate, he advised Swaminathan to approach Norman Borlaug.
Norman Borlaug had incorporated the same dwarfing genes through Vogel’s lines into his spring wheat varieties in Mexico that were better suited for India.

Swaminathan along with Norman Borlaug toured India and worked seriously on dwarf wheat breeding programme in 1963.
Within five years, there was what was called the Wheat Revolution. Between 1964 and 1968, annual production of wheat increased from about 10 million tonnes to about 17 million tonnes.
The government declared India self-sufficient in food production in 1971.
Indira Gandhi, the then PM, released a special stamp to mark the achievement.

Post-independence, Indian agriculture was not very productive.
The nation lacked the resources to modernise the sector.
Crops necessary for staple foods also had to be imported from countries like the US.
India was leading a ship-to-mouth existence.
India was dependent on PL480 wheat from the US. For example, in 1966, 10 million tonnes of PL480 wheat were imported.

After 1971, he was appointed as the director-general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and a secretary to the Government of India.
He was made the first Asian director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines in 1982.
In 1984, he became the president and vice-president of the IUCN and World Wildlife Fund.
He was the chair of the National Commission on Farmers constituted in 2004.
He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by former (late) President APJ Abdul Kalam, where he served from 2007 to 2013.

He was awarded the first World Food Prize in 1987, and the prize money was used to set up the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation.
He established the Nuclear Research Laboratory at the IARI.
He played a key role in setting up of the
- International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in India.
- The International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (Bioversity International) in Italy.
- The International Council for Research in Agro-Forestry in Kenya.
Swaminathan co-chaired the United Nations Millennium Project on hunger from 2002 to 2005.
He was the head of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs (2002 – 2007).

1961: Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award.
1965: Mendel Memorial Medal from the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.
1971: Ramon Magsaysay Award.
1986: Albert Einstein World Science Award.
1987: The first World Food Prize.
1991: Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement.
2000: Four Freedoms Award.
2000: Planet and Humanity Medal of the International Geographical Union.
2024: Bharat Ratna.
He was also awarded the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Vibhushan awards & the Indira Gandhi Prize.