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Who is known as the 'Father of the Green Revolution' in India?
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Answer: Option A — M.S. Swaminathan
Detailed Solution
Swaminathan. Dr. Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan (1925-2023), an agricultural scientist, is known as the "Father of the Green Revolution" in India. He played the leading role in introducing high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice, which made India self-sufficient in food grains.
In the early 1960s, India faced serious food shortages and depended on imported wheat from the United States. Swaminathan worked with the American scientist Norman Borlaug, who had developed high-yielding, dwarf varieties of wheat in Mexico. Swaminathan brought these varieties to India, adapted them to Indian conditions and organised their spread among farmers. The new seeds, used together with irrigation, chemical fertilisers and pesticides, led to a dramatic increase in wheat production, especially in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, from the mid-1960s. This transformation is called the Green Revolution. The Union Agriculture Minister C. Subramaniam supported the programme.
Swaminathan later headed the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines. He received the first World Food Prize in 1987 and founded the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai. He also chaired the National Commission on Farmers (2004-2006), which recommended that farmers should get a minimum support price at least 50% higher than their cost of production. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, posthumously, in 2024.
Norman Borlaug, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, is known as the father of the Green Revolution in the world.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Verghese Kurien is known as the "Father of the White Revolution" (milk) in India.
- ✗Norman Borlaug is known as the father of the Green Revolution worldwide, not in India.
- ✗Sam Pitroda is known for the telecom revolution and is linked with the Yellow Revolution (oilseeds).
Quick tip
Remember: Green Revolution in India = M.S. Swaminathan (wheat, mid-1960s); in the world = Norman Borlaug; White Revolution = Verghese Kurien.
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Agriculture in India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Agriculture in India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers agriculture in India: cropping seasons (kharif, rabi and zaid), major food and cash crops and their leading producer states, irrigation, the Green, White, Blue and other agricultural revolutions, and allied activities such as animal husbandry and fisheries. Questions usually ask which crop belongs to which season, which state is the largest producer of a crop, and which revolution relates to which product. For example, the White Revolution relates to milk and was led by Verghese Kurien, and the Blue Revolution relates to fisheries. Producer rankings can change from year to year, so check the latest data for those questions. Practise the agriculture in India questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.