World renowned sand artist and recipient of the prestigious Padma Shri award, Sudarsan Pattnaik from Odisha paid tribute to Visionary Indian agronomist Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, hailed as the Father of the Green Revolution. Swaminathan passed away due to age-related ailments at the age of 98 years in Chennai on Thursday.
Pattnaik created a sand sculpture of Swaminathan to pay his tribute. The sculpture has Swaminathan's picture on a green background that looks like a farm field and "Father of Indian Green Revolution" written on it. While in the forefront, "A Tribute To Dr MS Swaminathan" is written by Pattnaik with some green grass designed on it.
Swaminathan was known for being the main architect of green revolution in India. He was called "The Father of Economic Ecology" by the United Nations Environment Programme.
He developed high-yielding varieties of crops. This brought about a revolution in India, starting in the 1960s, which helped low-income farmers generate more volume of crops per square unit of area. Swaminathan's work also prevented massive famine and helped the nation become self-sufficient in food production.
He also held several key roles, including Founder Chairman, Emeritus Chairman, and Chief Mentor of the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), founded in Chennai in 1988.
Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Albert Einstein World Science Award and the SS Bhatnagar Award for Biological Sciences were some of the prestigious wards received by Swaminathan.
Born in Kumbakonam on August 7, 1925, Swaminathan was the second son of surgeon MK Sambasivan and Parvati Thangammal from Alappuzha in Kerala.
He is survived by three daughters - Soumya Swaminathan who served as chief scientist at the World Health Organization, Madhura Swaminathan and Nitya Rao. His wife Mina passed away in 2022.