Opinion A fitting tribute to M S Swaminathan would be to restore centrality of science in agriculture

MS Swaminathan may not have developed the high-yielding wheat varieties that ushered in India’s Green Revolution during the mid- and late-Sixties. The varieties that farmers sowed were originally bred in Mexico by the legendary Norman Borlaug. Even the subsequent blockbuster varieties such as Kalyan Sona and Sonalika that produced amber-coloured grain with better chapati-making quality than the red Mexican wheats were bred by men — the likes of VS Mathur, SP Kohli and DS Athwal — not as well known in the popular imagination. Swaminathan’s key role was in recognising the potential of the new genetic strains or “plant type” responsive to increased fertiliser and water application, and devising a coherent strategy for their introduction and large-scale planting by farmers. He was a rare combination of someone who was abreast with the latest developments in agricultural sciences — including the deployment of the dwarf Norin-10 wheat genes by American researchers — and someone who could also work through the bureaucratic and political establishment for translating his strategic vision into farmers’ fields.

Indian agriculture today lacks a champion pursuing strategic objectives for the sector with missionary zeal like Swaminathan. It equally lacks committed ministers and civil servants like C Subramaniam and B Sivaraman, who valued scientific opinion and could take bold decisions — such as importing 18,000 tonnes of seeds of Borlaug’s Mexican wheats in 1966. Contrast that informed resoluteness with the current procrastination over genetic modification and new breeding technologies — a dawdling based not on science as much as unsubstantiated fears of the unknown. The most fitting tribute to Swaminathan would be to restore the centrality of science — and scientists — in agriculture and, like him, to trust the wisdom and ability of the Indian farmer to adopt and adapt to new technologies.

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Also Read | MS Swaminathan’s evergreen revolution: Productivity without ecological harm

The Borlaug-Swaminathan Green Revolution strategy basically relied on breeding varieties that would produce more grain with more fertiliser, especially nitrogen, and water application. That simple “more input, more output” strategy has probably run its course. Today, the challenge is breeding for climate change (short winters, temperature spikes, fewer rainy days and extreme precipitation were relatively unknown phenomena during Swaminathan’s time) and improving water and nutrient use efficiency. In other words, “less input, more output”. Swaminathan was right about the Green Revolution; it turned India from a “ship to mouth” importer to a country that became self-sufficient in foodgrains. He was equally right about aiming for an “Evergreen Revolution”, which, in his words, was an “improvement of productivity in perpetuity without ecological harm”.