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The life and work of Dr. M S SWAMINATHAN
 Meet
Professor M.S.Swaminathan, the country's most renowned agricultural
scientist. As Secretary in the Central Government's
Food Ministry, he developed a strong food security system
in India. His work in crop genetics and sustainable agricultural
development in India won him the World Food Prize in 1987,
the Tyler-Honda Prize in 1991 and UNEP(United Nations
Environment Programme) Sasakawa Award in 1994.
Dr Swaminathan served as Director General
of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (1972-78)
and the International Rice Research Institute (1982-88).
He was Independent Chairman of the FAO (Food Aid Organisation)
Council (1981-85) and President of the International Union
for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (1984-1990).
 He
was also the President of the National Academy of Agricultural
Sciences of India and a member of various academies including
the Royal Society of London, US National Academy of Sciences,
Russian Academy and Italian and Chinese Academies.
He is the founder of the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation,
at Taramani, Chennai.
Prof..M.S.Swaminathan on himself.
Q. Why did you choose to become an agricultural
scientist ?
I wanted to be a doctor, because my father
was a surgeon. But soon after my father's death the whole thought
process changed towards genetics and agriculture.
During the Bengal famine of the 1940s, Gandhian-Nehru philosophy,
freedom fighting and what we should do for the mother country, inspired
many of us as young boys and girls. So I thought I should go and
specialise in agricultural genetics. That is why, after taking one
B.Sc. degree in Biology and Zoology, I went to the agricultural
college of Coimbatore, because I felt that there was no point in
specialising in genetics without agriculture. Because you are going
apply them. Then I went for post-graduate studies in Delhi and later
on to Holland and Cambridge, where I did my Ph.d.
 Q.
Who has been your major inspiration ?
Inspiration is the cause for which you work.
I always believe inspiration, prosperity and good luck are divine
graces. These are the three ingredients for success. Inspiration
for a scientist like me comes from the realisation that my knowledge
or my life can change, for the better, the lives of many people
So the cause is your inspiration.
Q. What would you consider your major achievements
?
I do not know what I have achieved. Anyway,
what I have achieved is the joint effort of other scientists and
farmers. Agriculture is an achievement of really hardworking men
and women, toiling in sun and rain to produce food for us. As scientists,
we have been helping them, by developing technology and tools they
can use for production.
It has given me great satisfaction to see
this transition from what you call the `begging bowl' to the `bread
basket'. This is really a satisfying moment.
Q. Do you have any unfulfilled dreams ?
So many unfulfilled dreams. Still so many
young men and women go to bed partially hungry. Every third child
born in our country today is underweight (less than 2.5 kgs). That
means a child is handicapped at birth and in brain development,
which is most unfortunate in this century.
 When
you see what we could have done and what we can still do and how
our attention is diverted to peripheral non-issues, we should have
in us a deep commitment to abolishing illiteracy. What Nehru once
called illiteracy, hunger, superstition, caste and community, which
are all artificial barriers between man and man. I hope our political
system will wake up and that is why we are including some bolder
agenda for 2007.
Q. Is your work being communicated to the
grass-root levels ?
No, it is not being communicated. Today,
for example, I have been the driving force in overcoming the problem
of low birth weight children, by giving food to very poor, pregnant
women, so that foetal and maternal under nutrition can be avoided.
It hardly requires about 3 million tonnes of food grain. Today,
the Government has over 40 million tonnes of food grain, much of
it, rotting in the stores. Can't we use this better?
In fact, we developed a seven-point programme
for total elimination of hunger in all its dimensions. But the present
administrative system and democratic set up is not able to cope
up with today's challenge. This can be changed only with modern,
sophisticated decision-making.
Click here for
the Second Part of this interview
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