Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, father of India’s Green Revolution and renowned Indian agricultural scientist, on Saturday was cremated in Chennai with government honour.
A platoon of police personnel in ceremonial attire gave a gun salute and bugle was played marking the Tamil Nadu government’s honour at a crematory.
The final rites were performed by the family members and the body was cremated at the Besant Nagar electric crematorium.
Swaminathan passed away at his residence in Chennai on September 28 at the age of 98. He is survived by his three daughters Soumya Swaminathan, Madhura Swaminathan, and Nitya Swaminathan. His wife Mina passed away last year.
In the late 1960s and 70s, the agriculturalist and plant geneticist was instrumental in bringing industrial farming to India, making the country self-sufficient in food and reducing widespread hunger.
Swaminathan was awarded the first World Food Prize in 1987 following which he set up the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) in Taramani, Chennai.
The eminent scientist was conferred with the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan. He is also the recipient of the H K Firodia award, the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award and the Indira Gandhi Prize, apart from several international awards including the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1971) and the Albert Einstein World Science Award (1986).
In 2004, Swaminathan was appointed as chair of the National Commission on Farmers, a commission setup to look into farmer distress amid alarming suicide cases. The commission submitted its report in 2006 and suggested, among its recommendations, that the Minimum Selling Price (MSP) should be at least 50 percent more than the weighted average cost of production.