M. S. Swaminathan - Professional Achievements

Professional Achievements

Dr. Swaminathan has worked worldwide in collaboration with colleagues and students on a wide range of problems in basic and applied plant breeding, agricultural research and development and the conservation of natural resources.

His professional career began in 1949:

• 1949-55 - Research on potato (Solanum tuberosum), wheat (Triticum aestivum), rice (Oryza sativa), and jute genetics.
• 1955–72 - Field research on Mexican dwarf wheat varieties. Teach Cytogenetics, Radiation Genetics, and Mutation Breeding and build up the wheat and rice germplasm collections at Indian Agricultural Research Institute IARI.
• 1970–80 - Director-General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR),Established the National Bureau of Plant, Animal, and Fish Genetic Resources of India.,
  Established the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (changed in 2006 to Bioversity International)).
  Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, Transformed the Pre-investment Forest Survey Programme into the Forest Survey of India.

• 1981–85 - Independent Chairman, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Council, Rome, played a significant role in establishing the Commission on Plant Genetic Resources.
• 1983 - Developed the concept of Farmers' Rights and the text of the International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources (IUPGR).President of the International Congress of Genetics.
• 1982–88 - Director General, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), organized the International Rice Germplasm Centre, now named International Rice Genebank.
• 1984-90 - President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources IUCN, develop the Convention on Biological Diversity CBD.
• 1986-99 - Chairman of the editorial advisory board, World Resources Institute, Washington, D. C., conceived and produced the first "World Resources Report".
• 1988-91 - Chairman of the International Steering Committee of the Keystone International Dialogue on Plant Genetic Resources, regarding the availability, use, exchange and protection of plant germplasm.
• 1991-1995 - Member, Governing Board, Auroville Foundation
• 1988-96 - President, World Wide Fund for Nature–India WWF, Organized the Indira Gandhi Conservation Monitoring Centre. Organize the Community Biodiversity Conservation Programme.
• 1988-99 - Chairman/Trustee, Commonwealth Secretariat Expert Group, organized the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development, for the sustainable and equitable management of tropical rainforests in Guyana. The President of Guyana wrote in 1994 "there would have been no Iwokrama without Swaminathan."
• 1990-93 - Founder/President, International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems (ISME)
• 1988-98 - Chaired various committees of the Government of India to prepare draft legislations relating to biodiversity (Biodiversity Act) and breeders’ and farmers’ rights (Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act).
• in 1993 Dr M. S. Swaminathan,headed an expert group to prepare a draft of a national population policy that would be discussed by the Cabinet and then by Parliament. In 1994 it submitted its report.
• 1994 - Chairman of the Commission on Genetic Diversity of the World Humanity Action Trust. Established a Technical Resource Centre at MSSRF for the implementation of equity provisions of CBD and FAO’s Farmers’ Rights.
• 1994 onwards - Chairman of the Genetic Resources Policy Committee (GRPC) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), development of policies for the management of the ex situ collections of International Agricultural Research Centers.
• 1995-1999 Chairman, Auroville Foundation
• 1999 - Introduced the concept of trusteeship management of Biosphere reserves. Implemented the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve Trust, with financial support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
• 2001 - Chairman of the Regional Steering Committee for the India – Bangladesh joint Project on Biodiversity Management in the Sundarbans World Heritage Site, funded by the UN Foundation and UNDP.
• 2002 - President of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs which work towards reducing the danger of armed conflict and to seek solutions to global security threats.
• 2002 - 2005 - Co-chairman with Dr. Pedro Sanchezof the UN Millennium Task Force on Hunger, a comprehensive global action plan for fighting poverty, disease and environmental degradation in developing countries.
• Over 68 students have done their Ph.D thesis work under his guidance: