RV Bhavani

This piece is being written more than a week since the passing away of Professor MS Swaminathan on Thursday, 28 September 2023. Tributes have poured in from India and abroad in honour of the man acknowledged as the Father of the Green Revolution in India; his many contributions both at the national and global levels, and accolades received have been highlighted. There was an outpouring of grief among many people from all walks of life whose lives he had touched; those who could make it, rushed to pay their respects in person.

Professor Swaminathan (hereafter MSS) had a fair share of critics also and there were rumblings in social media as well. But these were largely overshadowed by the overwhelming sense of loss of a multifaceted personality who made it his mission to work for the eradication of hunger and malnutrition in the world. At a personal level, it has been a recollection and reflection on the man and his mission, based on my association of a little over two decades.

In another two years, MSS would have completed a century on the planet. Born in pre-independence India, he was in his early twenties when India gained freedom. He had been offered an academic position in the United States where he had gone on a postdoctoral fellowship. But the young man was clear in his mind that he wanted to work for India’s agriculture, and the rest we know is history.

MSS it can rightly be said belongs to the league of builders of modern India. In the global arena, he stands tall as a crusader for ending malnutrition in all its forms. The Green Revolution successfully warded off doomsday predictions of hunger and famine and put India on the path to food self-sufficiency. It was the synergy of science, technology and public policy, and uptake by the Indian farmers, that was instrumental in the success of the Green Revolution, MSS would often say. He was also aware of the dangers of overexploitation of natural resources in the race for productivity and profit, that is highlighted by many critics of the Green Revolution, and had warned of the consequences as early as in the late 1960s itself. And he went on to expound the concept of Evergreen Revolution based on sustainable use of natural resources.

MSS’s years at the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) and later at the helm of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) saw pathbreaking research in agriculture as well as significant institutional initiatives. These have been recorded by his biographers and some of his students. Among the many notable initiatives he steered during this period, was the establishment of the Indian Agricultural Research Service¹ .

The idea of an institution on the contours of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) that he went on to establish in 1988, go back many years. Tracing the genesis of MSSRF, MSS recorded in his introduction to MSSRF’s Annual Report (2011-12)² : “It was way back in 1970 that Professor CV Raman seeded the idea in my mind that I should be involved in establishing a research and training centre in the field of applied ecology, relating to the improvement of the productivity, profitability and sustainability of small-farm agriculture.” He was writing the section before stepping down as Chairman of the MSSRF Board of Trustees and shared his vision for sustainable rural development. MSS continued to be on MSSRF’s Board as Founder Chairman, till the end.

MSS was awarded the first World Food Prize³  in 1987 and used the prize money to establish the MSSRF . It was in July 2000 that I first met him. I had applied for a position at the MSSRF⁴ and was called for an interview. While I waited, he suddenly walked in and introduced himself with a smile — ‘Swaminathan’! This unassuming simplicity and humility were hallmarks I witnessed on many occasions thereafter. I left my job as a bank officer to join MSSRF. There had apparently been some debate among the members of the interview panel if I would fit in and stay on, but he had been in favour of my joining, MSS said during one of my visits to see him about a year ago. Age had begun to take its toll, he was physically weak, unable to sit for long, and his voice had become feeble, but his mind was alert and sharp till the very end.

1. https://www.mssrf.org/small-news/breeding-brains-for-a-hunger-free-india-prof-m-s-swaminathan/ 
2. http://59.160.153.188/library/sites/default/files/AR2011-2012.pdf 
3. https://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/laureates/19871999_laureates/1987_swaminathan/ 
4. www.mssrf.org 

It was thus that in September 2000, I began a learning journey working with MSS at MSSRF. The Green Revolution had brought food security to the country, but the greater challenge now was to realise nutrition security. MSS began advocating early on for nutrition security based on a lifecycle approach. He defined nutrition security as: “physical, economic, and social access to balanced diet, clean drinking water, sanitation and primary healthcare”⁵ .

Under his guidance, and with support from the UN World Food Programme (UNWFP), MSSRF undertook to map the rural, urban, and environmental sustainability of food security in the country. The reports formed the basis for discussion under his call for ‘Mission 2007: Hunger Free India’, as the country approached the 60th anniversary of independence. A series of regional and national consultations on this theme were organised across the country during 2005-2006, jointly with UNWFP and the National Commission on Farmers (NCF). These fed into the recommendations in the NCF reports to address food and nutrition security.

MSS was also a strong advocate for food-based approaches for nutrition security as against drug-based approaches. Way back in 1978, when he was at the helm, ICAR had produced a publication titled, A Plan to Combat Malnutrition — Nutrition Gardens. Taking this forward, he called for mainstreaming the nutrition dimension in agriculture to address malnutrition and coined the term ‘Farming System for Nutrition–(FSN)’, defining it as: ‘the introduction of agricultural remedies to the nutritional maladies prevailing in an area through mainstreaming nutritional criteria in the selection of the components of a farming system involving crops, farm animals and wherever feasible, fish’⁶ . 

From 2013 to 2018, into his 10th decade, he chaired the Consortium Advisory Group of a UKAid supported multi-country, multi-institutional research programme consortium — Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA), that was led by MSSRF, and provided guidance in operationalising the concept of FSN  and in policy advocacy for nutrition-sensitive agriculture.

MSS was 75 when I started working at MSSRF, but his energy levels were amazing. Meticulous in taking notes in long hand, action points from meetings he chaired would be produced almost immediately. A stickler for punctuality, when he was not travelling, he would be in his office at the Foundation by 9 am. Any important issue to be discussed would be over tea at 11 am, a practise I understand he followed from his days at IARI. His secretary would call to inform in the morning, and we would head to the canteen, notebook in hand, for ‘Tea with Prof’. The matter discussed, a mail would follow immediately on steps to be taken. He always paid for the tea; he also always had a smile or a word for others present.

MSSRF regularly organised many national and international consultations under his guidance. He would designate an organising secretary and committee, provide guidance as required and give a free hand for operationalising the arrangements. A man of tremendous calm, he would quietly observe and come and ask, “Is everything under control?”, to get a sense of how matters were progressing. The same applied to project implementation. He would carefully read reports shared with him and immediately give feedback. He would sometimes even come to our desk to discuss a matter, instead of calling us, such was the man!

5. https://www.mssrf.org/small-blog/moving-from-food-to-nutrition-security-prof-m-s-swaminathan/ 
6. https://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/107/06/0959.pdf 
7. http://59.160.153.188/library/sites/default/files/Farming%20system%20for%20Nutriion.pdf 

Among many significant meetings hosted by MSSRF under his leadership was the 30th Session of the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition in 2003, the first time in SCN’s history that their annual session was hosted by a civil society organisation⁸. MSSRF was also the venue of meetings chaired by MSS that paved the way for the two important legislations, viz. the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act 2001 and National Biodiversity Act 2002.

A habit MSS had long cultivated was to personally respond to all correspondence addressed to him, regardless of who it came from. A familiar scene at MSSRF was to see him sitting in his secretariat dictating to his secretaries, as they typed. He would also prepare for any address he was to give, with care. The scientist and researcher in him made him continue to guide doctoral research students and it was as late as in 2018 that his last student submitted her thesis. A passionate scientist at heart, MSS was always curious to hear from the younger generation of scientists and researchers and keep himself abreast with the latest developments. He would often make his way to the laboratories at MSSRF to see the young scientists at work. MSS conceptualised and launched the ‘Every Child a Scientist’ programme at MSSRF⁹ targeting children from government and aided schools. A programme of Genome Clubs promoted in schools to promote genetic literacy was expanded in 2007 into a national programme of DNA Clubs under the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India (GoI)¹⁰. In 2001, with support from the government of Tamil Nadu and DBT, MSSRF established the first women’s biotechnology park in the country, to encourage women scientist entrepreneurs¹¹. 

A humanist at heart, MSS’s immediate connect with people was clearly visible when he visited MSSRF’s field centres and interacted with rural men, women, and children. A firm believer in people’s participation, engagement, and empowerment, he coined terms such as, ‘Community Hunger Fighters’ ¹², and the like, to give them recognition; grassroot champions were recognised as Fellows of the National Virtual Academy for Rural Prosperity  that he established.

Seeing ICT as an important tool for accelerating rural prosperity, he came up with the idea in the early 1990s of reaching the unreached by establishing Village Knowledge Centres (VKC), to provide demand-driven, need-based information to rural communities. Subsequently, in collaboration with ISRO, MSSRF went on to set up Village Resource Centres with satellite connectivity. The initiative expanded in 2004 to a national alliance under the banner ‘Mission 2007: Every Village a Knowledge Centre’. Responding to the momentum generated, GoI announced a budget allocation in 2005–2006 for setting up VKCs across the country, followed by the Common Service Centre initiative in 2006–2007 as part of the National e-governance Plan.

In 2004, MSS was appointed Chairman of the NCF constituted by GoI for a two-year term. There had been Commissions on Agriculture earlier; this was the first time the ‘Farmer’ was the centre of focus. I got the opportunity to work in the NCF as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Chairman. Even as office infrastructure for the members and logistics were still being worked out, MSS proposed that the Commission submit its first report in December itself and set a fast pace of work.

8. https://www.unscn.org/files/Annual_Sessions/30th_SCN_Session/30th_session_REPORT.pdf 
9. https://www.mssrf.org/ongoing-projects/every-child-a-scientist-programme/#:~:text=ECAS%20programme%20at%20MSSRF%20was,the%20lessons%20from%20this%20programme. 
10. https://nasi.org.in/dna-club/ 
11. https://www.biotechpark.co.in/ 
12. https://www.mssrf.org/small-news/strengthening-the-community-hunger-fighters-approach-for-odisha/; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7E-XN6Fmk0&list=PLzBW9IguAXpZSL7h0HY6f_KYDYUmCWLlP&index=6  
13. https://www.mssrf.org/small-news/jamsetji-tata-national-virtual-academy/ 

When the tsunami struck on 24 December 2004, he immediately convened a meeting and a chapter titled, “Beyond Tsunami: Saving Lives and Livelihoods” was added to the report. Even as the suffering caused by any calamity is painful, his dictum was that we should use the opportunity to learn and ensure that such eventualities do not recur. 

The NCF went on to submit five reports under the generic title — ‘Serving Farmers and Saving Farming’, and a draft National Policy for Farmers. In October 2005, he led field trips of the NCF to Punjab, and the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, to understand the ground situation by interacting with farm men and women, besides engaging with government officials, scientists, and other stakeholders. In Vidarbha, we also visited families of some of the farmers who had committed suicide. Recommendations to address the agrarian crisis were made in the third Report of the NCF submitted in December 2005. The experience also triggered immediate action from MSS by way of MSSRF launching a programme of education support to the children of farmers who had committed suicide, so that their studies are not disrupted. It was decided to start the initiative in Wardha district and the programme was rolled out in 2006. Simultaneously we reached out to the mothers of the children and following interaction with them, it was decided to start an initiative to empower women farmers by strengthening their capacities under the name Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP). This went on to become a national programme in 2010-11 with GoI making it a sub-component of the National Rural Livelihood Mission under the Ministry of Rural Development. These were lessons on demonstrating in action and engaging in policy advocacy for impact at scale .

MSS remained equanimous and accessible, despite being the recipient of many awards and honours. “When being lauded, I tell myself they are praising someone else”, he would say with a smile! An epitome of perseverance, I have been able to highlight here just some aspects of the humane and versatile personality that MSS and his numerous contributions. He was one of his kind and his legacy will live on through the institutions he built/guided and initiatives he steered. His is a life to cherish and strive to emulate. These lines by the Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke seem apt as we pay homage and celebrate the life of MSS:

Again and again in history 
Some special people wake up 
They have no ground in the crowd 
They move to broader laws 
They carry strange customs with them 
And demand room for bold and audacious actions 
The future speaks ruthlessly through them
They change the world!