Dr Raghunath Mashelkar, FRS

In the annals of history, there are individuals, whose contributions transcend their lifetimes, leaving an indelible mark on the world. Professor MS Swaminathan, popularly referred to as the "Father of the Green Revolution," is one such luminary, whose legacy continues to shape the destiny of nations. Prof. Swaminathan's life and work have been an ode to the betterment of humanity through agriculture.

Prof. Swaminathan's pioneering work in Green Revolution has to be viewed in a context. Our post-independent India lived a ‘ship to mouth’ existence and India’s image was that of a ‘begging bowl’. It was in those circumstances of scarcity of both food and of our national dignity that Prof. Swaminathan achieved the near impossible of making the nation move from ‘food scarcity’ to ‘food surplus’ and from national ‘despair’ to national ‘dignity’.

Prof. Swaminathan saw farther than all of us mortals. For instance, he had cautioned about ecological concerns relating to the practice of intensive agriculture as early as January 1968 in his address to the Indian Science Congress.

And he kept on repeating his message. In 1999, in his book ‘Century of Hope: Towards an Era of Harmony with Nature and Freedom from Hunger’ he had said, "What nations with small farms and resource-poor farmers need is the enhancement of productivity in perpetuity without associated ecological or social harm. The Green Revolution should become an evergreen revolution rooted in the principles of ecology, economics and gender and social equity."

Prof. Swaminathan’s ‘Evergreen Revolution’ is based on a ‘Systems Approach’ with concurrent attention to each and every component of ecological foundation. He strongly believed that ‘Evergreen Revolution’ which is most suitable for hundreds of millions of resource-poor small and medium farmers, necessarily had social and gender dimensions.

In 1987, he was honoured with the first World Food Prize. He used the proceeds to give a gift to the nation in the form of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), in the year 1988.

The Foundation has done pioneering work to accelerate the use of modern science and technology for sustainable agricultural and rural development with emphasis on tribal and rural communities with a pro-poor, pro-women and pro-nature approach. On a number of occasions, Prof. Swaminathan invited me to speak at the events in the Foundation. While addressing him in my speeches, I alwayss used to begin by calling him as a Statesman of Science, because that is what I believe he was.

I have many fond memories of my personal interactions with him. When I was the Director General of CSIR, he was the Chairman of the Research Council of CFTRI. He was, in fact, a great guide, friend and philosopher to CSIR. Our CSIR family will remain ever so grateful to him. 

On a personal level, I remember him as a very pleasant, humble, soft spoken, dignified but a quite unassuming person. He had a demeanour, which concealed his brilliant intellect and amazing achievements with countless global accolades. He was a great listener too. He made ordinary people look extraordinary. So big was his heart.

I will just highlight two events. The first event has to do with my own realisation that Prof. Swaminathan was a social reformer, advocating for the welfare of the farming community, especially women and marginalised groups. He believed that gender equity in agriculture was not just a matter of justice but also a path to greater productivity and prosperity. His efforts to uplift rural communities through education, healthcare, and social empowerment left an indelible mark on the landscape of rural India. And I was lucky to have a personal experience of his vision of what he called ‘Village Knowledge Centres’.

I remember Prof. Bruce Alberts, who was then the President of the US National Academy of Science, had visited India in 1998. I distinctly remember Professor Swaminathan organising our special visit to Pondicherry, where Professor Alberts and I were shown the ‘ahead of time’ experiments that he was doing to build what he referred to as the ‘Village Knowledge Centres’. These were truly novel models being tested by the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation on creating new knowledge systems in the villages around Pondicherry. The knowledge system for sustainable food security in the Pondicherry villages had its goal as the empowerment of rural women, men and children with information relating to ecological agriculture, economic access and utilisation. Such knowledge systems were being managed by local youth at the Village Knowledge Centre, from where the computer-aided information system was operated. Farmers were becoming the knowledge workers, and they were also being trained to maintain a “Soil Health Card” to monitor the impact of farming systems on the physical, chemical and microbiological components of soil fertility.

Our Hon’ble Prime Minister, while paying tribute to late Prof. Swaminathan on 7 October this year, has made a special mention of his experience during the time he was Chief Minister of Gujarat. Here is what he has said: “Among the many initiatives we launched was the soil health card, which enabled us to understand the soil better and address problems if they arose. It was in the context of this scheme that I first met Swaminathan. He appreciated the scheme and also shared his valuable inputs for the same. His endorsement was enough to convince those who were sceptical about the scheme that would eventually set the stage for Gujarat’s agricultural success.”

There is another remarkable event that left a mark on my mind. I had the privilege of giving the Ranganathan Memorial Oration in Chennai. Shri C Subramaniam was the chief guest, and Professor Swaminathan was the guest of honour. That was an incredible combination, since both of them were responsible for the phenomenal green revolution in India.

In my speech, I talked about the green revolution, white revolution and then I said that there was a grey revolution in India. I was referring to the grey matter in the brain. I said that 6% of the Indian population with an average age of 26 is generating one-third of Indian exports. I was, of course, referring to IT and IT related services.

When it was the turn of Professor Swaminathan to make the final remarks, he gently but firmly said, “Dr Mashelkar is talking about grey revolution. It has to do with the high-quality brain of our young population. Does he know what is happening to the development of the brain today of young infants born in poor families? Dr Mashelkar should know about how due to the malnutrition of the poor women, the children that are being born to them are suffering from a lack of brain development. Therefore, nutritional revolution is the need of the hour.”

And of course, the remarks of this great visionary were so right. The nutritional revolution is deeply intertwined with our very future. But to achieve a nutritional revolution, it is important to provide the young children with the right food, rich in nutrients at an early stage.  It goes beyond mere calorie intake and emphasises the importance of a balanced diet that includes all essential nutrients. To put it simply, it's not just about having enough food; it's about having the right kind of food. 

There are multiple dimensions to nutritional revolution. But I would like to bring forth a specific one.

   In 2021, a young innovator Senthil Murugesan won the Anjani Mashelkar Inclusive Innovation Award set up by The Anjani Mashelkar Foundation, which I had started in the memory of my late mother.

This inclusive innovator Senthil had used a high technology to create an affordable innovation called SaveMom, which is a holistic hardware-cum-software solution for maternal and childcare that safeguards the journey of a pregnant woman and the new-born child. The price that one has to pay for this service is just Rs 1000 for 1000 days of use! That is a rupee per day!

SaveMom involves point-of-care devices and wearables for continuous tracking of vitals of the pregnant mother and a backend software, which is accessed by doctors in real time. The software also has AI-based decision support system for doctors which can predict pregnancy risks in the first trimester as against the third trimester in conventional processes. On the basis of the risk profiles, the software recommends the right nutrition to the mothers and children and ensures channelising this nutrition through the existing support system.

The SaveMom solution is becoming an active driver in the ‘nutrition revolution’ across over ~7000 villages in India so far and is helping grow healthier babies and mothers across the country.

I am quite sure that Prof Swaminathan would have been very happy to see this humble technology-led contribution to his dream of nutritional revolution that he had emphasised decades ago during my Ranganathan memorial oration.

As we pay homage to Prof. MS Swaminathan, we must recognise that his legacy is not confined to the pages of history but continues to shape the future of agriculture and food security. His enduring commitment to sustainable, equitable, and environmentally responsible farming practices is even more relevant today than ever before in a world grappling with climate change and food insecurity.

Prof. Swaminathan's life and work stand as a testament to the transformative power of science, compassion, and dedication. He is not only the Father of the Green Revolution but also an inspiration for generations of scientists, farmers, and policymakers worldwide. In celebrating his contributions to agriculture and the nation, we honour a legend whose spirit continues to guide us towards a brighter, more sustainable future.

Prof. Swaminathan was not an individual, he was an Institution. Individuals go but Institutions remain for ever. 

Therefore, here is to wish that this great Ratna of Bharat will be honoured with our nation’s highest civilian honour, Bharat Ratna, because although Prof. Swaminathan is no more, he will be there for us, everywhere. He will remain an inspirator, rather a timeless inspirator.