Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu National Award to Prof M S Swaminathan

On January 14, 2020, the Agricultural Scientist Prof M S Swaminathan was awarded the “Muppavarapu Venenkaiah Naidu” National award. The award was also presented to Mr Muniratnam. Mr Muniratnam was the first person to receive the award four days back.

Highlights

The professor was made the honours during Pongal celebrations at Raj Bhavan in Chennai. The award carried cash prize of Rs 5 lakhs.  During the celebrations, the professor was titled as “Father of Green Revolution and the Doyen of Agricultural Science”.

Muppavarapu foundation

Muppavarapu foundation is a non-profit organisation started by Mr Muppavarapu Harshavardhan, son of Vice President Venkaiah Naidu. The organisation arranges training on latest technologies. The trainings are predominantly offered in the fields of horticulture, agriculture, animal husbandry, home science, fisheries, vermi culture and mushroom culture.

M S Swaminathan

Mr Swaminathan is an Indian Geneticist. He played a major role in Green Revolution programme of India. He has played the role of director general of ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research), director of IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) and president of IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources). He was a follower of Mahatma Gandhi.

The Great Bengal Famine kindled the professor’s interest towards agriculture. He left his doctor profession and learned agriculture from University of Kerala. He also conquered UPSC and qualified for IPS.