M. S. Swaminathan

Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan (1925-2023), the geneticist and administrator who ran the Indian end of the Green Revolution. Director of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (1966-72) and ICAR Director-General (1972-79); introduced the Mexican dwarf wheat varieties IR-8 and IR-36 crossed with Indian lines, raised Indian wheat yields from 10 to 17 million tonnes within four years (1966-70), and later ran the International Rice Research Institute (1982-88). Founded the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation at Chennai (1988). First recipient of the World Food Prize (1987); Padma Vibhushan 1989; Bharat Ratna 2024 (posthumous).