Chennai: Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, the iconic figure credited with catalyzing India’s ‘Green Revolution’ and revolutionizing the agricultural landscape, passed away at the age of 98 in Chennai on Thursday.
MS Swaminathan, often revered as the “Father of Economic Ecology” by the United Nations Environment Programme, played a pivotal role in the development of high-yielding varieties of paddy that increased crop yields for low-income farmers.
Swaminathan was awarded the inaugural World Food Prize in 1987. Following this achievement, he established the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai, a hub of agricultural innovation.
He was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1971 and the Albert Einstein World Science Award in 1986. He also received India’s highest civilian honors, the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Vibhushan, in addition to the H K Firodia Award, the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award, and the Indira Gandhi Prize.
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