1991 Tyler Laureate
M.S. Swaminathan
M. S. Swaminathan's mission in life has been to increase biological
productivity on an ecologically sustainable basis. One of the world's most
eminent agricultural scientists, Dr. Swaminathan has singlemindedly devoted
himself to research in genetics and breeding to discover genetically superior
strains of wheat, rice and coarse grains to enhance the productivity and
stability of food crops in India and other parts of the Third world. While
searching for methods to achieve higher production, he has been sensitive
to the need for populous, landhungry countries like India to protect forest
land from being destroyed and to adopt "land saving agriculture."
Dr. Swaminathan pioneered continuous advances in biological productivity. His search for genetic improvements in food species started at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, in 1947. Combining genetics and applied botany, Dr. Swaminathan identified barriers to high yields in wheat and initiated the dwarf wheat breeding program. He improved the quality and stability of wheat, rice and potatoes. The yield per hectare of land in India tripled, earning him a reputation as the scientific leader of the "Green Revolution." In 1964, Indian farmers produced 12 million metric tons of wheat from 14 million hectares of land; in 1990, the farmers produced 55 million metric tons of wheat from 23 million hectares of land. More than any other single individual, Dr. Swaminathan helped India overcome the largest food deficit in the world and create a selfsustaining nation.
A world leader in environmental conservation, Dr. Swaminathan recognized very early in his career the need for the preservation of biological diversity. His doctoral work at Cambridge University focused on the Commonwealth potato collection; and, in 1952, he helped organize work at the Interregional Potato Introduction Station at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Returning to India, he started assembling genetic material for wheat and rice in 1954. This work led him to launch a plant collection expedition in Northeast India in the early 1960's, in association with Drs. S.V S. Shastry, S.D. Sharma, and E.A. Siddiq, to assemble and preserve the many genotypes of wild rice that were threatened by the spread of shifting cultivation in the region. This assemblage of over 6000 strains, known internationally as the "Assam Rice Collection," has proven to be a goldmine of genes resistant to rice pests and possessing other valuable economic traits.
Extending his commitment to biological diversity, Dr. Swaminathan proposed the organization of the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (known as the IBPGR) in 1971 and played a pivotal role in its creation. Later, during his tenure as Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, he established the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources for his homeland and later stimulated the development of similar National Bureaus for Animal and Fish Genetic Resources.
Serving as Director General of the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines from 1982 to 1988, Dr. Swaminathan reorganized the rice gene collection, retitled it the "International Rice Germplasm Center," and launched an intensive drive for the collection and conservation of wild rices. More recently, he has organized a Community Biodiversity Conservation Movement in India; and, as Honorary Director of the Centre for Research on Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development in Madras, he is organizing a Genetic Resources Center for Adaptation to Climate Change. This unique center will assemble species and strains possessing genes for tolerance to sea water intrusion as well as to flooding and drought, in anticipation of the possible longterm effects of global warming.
Dr. Swaminathan just completed his terms as President of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and as President of the National Academy of Sciences of India. He continues as President of the World Wide Fund for Nature India (W WFI) and as President of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences of India. In recognition of his great scholarly distinction, Dr. Swaminathan has been inducted into the Royal Society of the United Kingdom and the National Academies of Science in Bangladesh, China, Italy, Sweden, the United States, and the USSR. He also is a founding Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences.
Secretary General of the United Nations, Javier Perez de Cuellar praised Dr. Swaminathan on the occasion of his receipt of the first World Food Prize in 1987, declaring, "By any standards, he will go into the annals of history as a world scientist of rare distinction."