M.S. Swaminathan, the man who fed India
The father of India’s green revolution has died
H IS FAMILY wanted him to become a doctor. But the devastation of the Bengal famine of 1943, which killed between 2m and 3m people, put M.S. Swaminathan on a different path. A follower of Mohandas Gandhi, the young Tamilian renounced medicine for unglamorous agriculture. His role in newly independent India would be to ensure its poor had enough to eat.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “The man who fed India”
From the October 7th 2023 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Fathers are doing more child care in East Asia
About time, too
Ice Age antelopes surge back from the brink of extinction
Even better, these peers of sabre-toothed tigers can help with carbon capture
Indonesia’s Prabowo is desperate to impress Trump and Xi
The new president’s first foreign tour was a shambles
Is India’s education system the root of its problems?
A recent comparison with China suggests that may be so
Meet the outspoken maverick who could lead India
Nitin Gadkari, India’s highways minister, talks to The Economist
The Adani scandal takes the shine off Modi’s electoral success
The tycoon’s indictment clouds the prime minister’s prospects