Renowned agronomist Dr MS Swaminathan, who died on Thursday, aged 98, was in Alappuzha in 2006 to attend talks ahead of preparing the Kuttanad package. At Ambalappuzha, he was offered the world-renowned paalpayasam — rice pudding slow-cooked in milk — from the Sree Krishna Temple.
Its heavenly taste thrilled Dr Swaminathan, and he did not hide his happiness. The local residents then made him an offer with a rider. "We'll serve you tastier paalpayasam if you could bring our Kunjathukkara back once the package is implemented."
Dr Swaminathan, hailing from Kuttanad, knew Kunjathukkara, a small-grain rice variety once grown in the region. The older generation believed that Kunjathukkara gave the paalpayasam its distinct rich taste.
Agronomist, agricultural scientist, and plant geneticist Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan had faced similar questions throughout his life. Be it Alappuzha, Chennai, or Manila, farmers visited him, and he keenly listened to them.
Throughout his busy life, Kuttanad was his shadow, where he had his roots at Mankombu.
Mankombu Swamys
The people of Kuttanad called Swaminathan's family Mankombu Swamys. Their affinity towards farming took them to Kerala's granary, and they played a significant role in promoting paddy cultivation in the Kuttanad delta, said Dr KG Padmakumar, Executive Director of the International Research and Training Centre for Below Sea-Level Farming.
The family of Mankombu Swamys had a vital role in developing the paddy polders in Kuttanad. They loaned money to farmers for an interest. Dr Padmakumar said Dr Swaminathan's family lived near the Mankombu temple.
Swaminathan was born in Kumbakonam. His father MK Sambasivan was a doctor in Kumbakonam. However, Swaminathan had an umbilical link with Mankombu, and Kuttanad's farming culture was in his DNA.
Though born far away from Kuttanad, he, too, took up agriculture, albeit differently. He pursued his degree from the Agricultural College in Coimbatore, which later became the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.
He later pursued genetics and plant breeding, before taking up cytogenetics for post-graduation and PhD. It marked the beginning of Swaminathan's journey as an agricultural scientist.
Miracle rice
The rice variety, IR8, is familiar to Malayalis. The high-yielding, semi-dwarf, pest-resistant variety revolutionised the polders in Kerala.
However, not many know that IR8 was a cross-bred variety, a cross between Peta from Indonesia, and Dee-geo-woo-gen from Taiwan. It was the eighth of the 38 high-yielding rice varieties that the Indian Agriculture Research Institute had introduced.
Dr Swaminathan was then the director of the institute. IR8 became so popular within a short span that farmers went after its seeds and seedlings.
Agriculture scientist and Kerala State Planning Board member Dr Jiju P Alex recalled that IR8 was released when India was dependent on others for rice, and the country was having a 'Ship to Mouth' existence.
The population was then ballooning and each individual had merely 417 grams of food a day. The agriculture sector was in the red with farmers caught neck-deep in debt. Union agriculture ministers C Subramaniam and Babu Jagjivan Ram exhorted scientists, including Dr Swaminathan, to ensure food security.
It was around this time that US agronomist and Nobel laureate Norman Ernest Borlaug invented a high-yielding, disease-resistant hybrid wheat variety in Mexico.
Agricultural scientists in India, led by Dr Swaminathan, decided to follow Dr Borlaug's path and develop new rice and wheat varieties. They developed high-yielding varieties and used chemical fertilisers and pesticides. They introduced novel farming methods, and India soon attained food self-sufficiency.
Ships that brought rice and wheat to India, took food grains from the country to various parts of the world. When India banned the export of non-basmati rice in July this year, global nations requested the country to revoke the decision. The world's dependence on India for rice was the result of the revolution that Dr Swaminathan had led, said Dr Alex.
Wheat for chapati
The Nobel prize, somehow, evaded Dr Swaminathan though he was honoured with the Padmabhushan and Ramon Magsaysay awards. However, he was presented with the World Food Prize, considered to be equivalent to the Nobel.
Why is he considered to be the Father of the Green Revolution? What changes did the revolution usher in the Indian agriculture sector? Both questions have a single answer, but it needs a clear understanding of India of yore.
Farmers were then following the traditional farming methods. The yield was less, and pests ran riot in the fields. Farmers were incurring huge losses, and the food production was merely 55 million tonnes, which fell short of feeding all Indians.
It was during this time that Dr Borlaug developed the high-yielding wheat variety. However, there was a catch. The wheat that Dr Borlaug developed was not good for making chapatis. To overcome the issue, Dr Swaminathan and his team developed yet another hybrid variety by crossing Dr Borlaug's wheat with Indian varieties.
The new variety was a success. Its yield was high, and the grain was perfect for chapatis. The invention revolutionised the wheat fields.
Under Indira Gandhi, agricultural scientists, political leadership, and farmers joined hands. The result was what Gandhi called the Wheat Revolution.
In 1963, India harvested 96 million tonnes of wheat from 100 million hectares. In 2013, merely 29 million hectares produced 96 million tonnes of wheat. Gandhi celebrated the Wheat Revolution by releasing a special stamp.
Incidentally, the term Green Revolution was coined by William S Gaud, the former administrator of the Agency for International Development.
Evergreen revolution
What after the Green Revolution? The world waited for Dr Swaminathan's next move. He soon came up with the answer.
He founded the Dr MS Swaminathan Research Foundation with the Magsaysay prize money. He was an expert in predicting the changes in the soil and nature. He found an apt term for his next move: The Evergreen Revolution.
The Evergreen Revolution was also his reply to the criticism that the Green Revolution had destroyed native crops.
Dr Padmakumar recalled another term — climate refugees — that Dr Swaminathan used during a visit to Thiruvananthapuram. The agronomist then spoke about the impact of climate change on agriculture. It was much before climate change was talked about in the world.
He walked the talk as well. MS Swaminathan Foundation took up anticipatory research to find means to ameliorate the impact of climate change. Saline agriculture was one of them. It would help in continuing farming even when the sea level increases.
Dr Swaminathan researched growing paddy in mangrove forests, supported by a group of scientists led by his daughter Dr Soumya Swaminathan.
Dr Swaminathan was married to Mina, whom he met in Cambridge while pursuing his PhD. She passed away in March 2022.
Manmohan Singh government made him the chairman of the National Commission on Farmers. The farmers regarded the panel as the Swaminathan Commission, which functioned for two years.
During the two years, the Commission drew up a project for the development of five agriculture sectors in the country. His major recommendation was revolutionary: the support price for food grains should include the production cost and its half.
Kerala failed Dr Swaminathan
Kuttanad has the lowest altitude in India and is below the sea level. While constructing houses, the older generations gave special attention to ensuring that floodwaters would not reach the paddy stored in the granary.
However, the granary at Dr Swaminathan's house was flooded recently, as he feared. In fact, he had suggested a solution to mitigate the agrarian crisis much in advance. It was the Kuttanad Package the Swaminathan Commission recommended in 2004.
The Commission recommended projects worth Rs 1,840 crore. One of the main recommendations was to construct bunds using concrete piles and slabs, replacing the traditional stone-made embankments. The recommendation was meant to prevent the breaching of bunds during rainy seasons.
The panel also earmarked separate funds for the development of four research institutes, including the Rice Research Station at Mankombu. He also initiated the work to make Kuttanad a Global Agriculture Heritage system. The Oommen Chandy government set up the International Research and Training Centre for Below Sea-Level Farming based on Dr Swaminathan's recommendation.
Dr Swaminathan had a special affinity towards Kuttanad, said Dr Leena Kumari, former director of the Rice Research Station.
"Despite being a busy scientist, he patiently listened to us, and gave us instructions," she said.
However, he was disappointed with the delay in implementing the Kuttanad Package. Normally, commissions give recommendations but seldom provide an action plan.
Dr Swaminathan walked the extra mile. He provided an action plan and even a chart detailing the role of officials. The chart was innovative. He envisaged an action committee comprising officials to implement the projects, and another panel chaired by the chief minister to oversee the works.
Unfortunately, both committees failed despite VS Achuthanandan from Alappuzha being the then chief minister.
Dr Swaminathan did not hide his disappointment. "I instructed them to implement it as a special mission..." but...
