Dr. M.S. Swaminathan

Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, (1925-2023) was an Indian geneticist and international administrator, renowned for his leading role in India’s “Green Revolution,” a program under which high-yield varieties of wheat and rice seedlings were planted in the fields of poor farmers. 

Swaminathan received his education in India and pursued his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge (1952), specializing in genetics. Over the subsequent two decades, he held various research and administrative roles, mostly in the Indian civil service. During his tenure in these positions, he played a pivotal role in introducing Mexican semi-dwarf wheat plants to Indian agricultural fields and played a significant part in fostering the adoption of modern farming techniques.  Between 1972 and 1979, Swaminathan served as the Director-General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Following this, he held the position of Principal Secretary in the Indian Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation from 1979 to 1980.  His contributions extended internationally as well, with his appointment as Director-General of the International Rice Research Institute from 1982 to 1988 and as President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources from 1984 to 1990.