Dr MS Swaminathan's family had branched out to Wayanad from Alappuzha to expand their agricultural interests. Thanks to that familial decision, which happened much before Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan emerged as a global leader of the Green Revolution, the agricultural wisdom of Wayanad's tribal communities is now globally recognised.

For Swaminathan, who died Thursday, aged 98, Wayanad was a second home. His paternal uncle Narayana Swami moved there from Mankombu in Alappuzha after the family bought 2,000 acres in the hilly district. Back then, the town of Kalpetta was a tiny hamlet.

Though the family lost a major portion of the property to the Land Reforms Act post-independence, about 500 acres were retained. Swaminathan, who had lost his father in early childhood, was close to his uncle and frequented Wayanad. 

MSSRF centre in Wayanad

Wayanad was also an endearing destination for his wife Mina Swaminathan and daughters Soumya, Madhura and Nithya. Besides, it houses one of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) centres. The Wayanad centre at Puthurvayal was launched in 1997 on Swaminathan's share of 41 acres.

While the MSSRF, founded in 1988, is headquartered in Chennai and reaches out to as many as 4,000 villages spread across 14 states in India, the Wayanad centre is special because he had himself conceptualized it before an advisory committee on December 27, 1996.

Dr N Anilkumar, member of the advisory committee and the Founder Director of MSSRF, Wayanad, says Swaminathan monitored the activities of the centre in person and envisaged action programmes as he had a great vision on how to preserve the ecology of the region.

“Through the chain of institutions in both Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats, he was trying to defend the grains of the green revolution,” Anilkumar said.

Recognition for tribal communities

According to Anilkumar, due to the respect Swaminathan had for the indigenous communities, for the first time in India, 26 rice varieties preserved by tribal farmers were registered under the PPVFRA (Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights) Act.

Later, the Kurichia tribal community bagged the Plant Genome Award instituted by the central government, which led the way for the team leader of the community project, Cheruvayal Raman to bag the Padma Shri, Anilkumar said.

Swaminathan used to say that the world has yet to fully recognize the contributions and knowledge of indigenous communities. “He used to tell us that nature only created plant diversity, but it was the indigenous community that identified the properties of the plants and protected them as well as practised the medicinal properties, for the benefit of humanity,” said Anilkumar.

'He learned and taught'

According to Padma Shri Cheruvayal Raman, Swaminathan taught the tribal communities of Wayanad many things and also learned much more from them. Raman said the presence of MSSRF in the district has helped the tribal communities to interact with global scientists and share their tribal wisdom, which had remained a secret for generations.

“A soft-spoken teacher, very close to us, he was, and always tried to learn many things from our customs and traditions, particularly on plant conservation and agricultural practices,.” Raman told Onmanorma. “He would be remembered for empowering us with academic support by providing us adequate international exposure through platforms of intellectual sharing.”