Quotes from M. S. Swaminathan

Farming is the riskiest profession in the world since the fate of the crop is closely linked to the behaviour of the monsoon.

See, technology can advance yield and productivity, but only public policy can advance the income of farmers. There has to be a synergy between technology and public policy.

Hybrids have become an important method for improving productivity or yield in many crops including the self-pollinated crop like rice.

In any case, if I grow hybrid maize or hybrid pearl mallet or any hybrid, I have to sow fresh seed every year. I cannot keep the seed of the same plant. If I keep the seed of the same plant, yield will be much less and there will be a wide variation in the field, like maturity period, quality and so on.

Farmers are happy so long as their net income will not be adversely affected. In organic farming, in the first couple of years you may drop in yield until you build up the soil fertility - you need inputs for output.

Green Revolution technologies are scale-neutral but not resource-neutral. Inputs are needed for output; therefore market-purchased inputs become important in providing soil and plant healthcare for higher yields.

The goal of my University education was to get into a medical college and equip myself to run a hospital in Kumbakonam left behind by my father, M.K. Sambasivan, who died at a young age in 1936.

Ultimately, multiple livelihood opportunities alone can insulate farmers in rainfed areas from the debt trap.

We have to initiate a bio-shield movement along the coastal areas by raising mangrove forests, plantations of casuarina, salicornia, laucaena, atriplex, palms, bamboo and other tree species and halophytes - all that can grow near the sea.

Agriculture can trigger job-led economic growth, provided it becomes intellectually satisfying and economically rewarding.

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Bengal Famine, Parliament is likely to pass the National Food Security Bill which will be the world's largest social protection measure against hunger.

India's future has to be built on the foundation of social protection of the economically and socially handicapped sections.

Integrated coastal zone management procedures involving concurrent attention to both the landward and seaward site of the ocean and to coastal forestry and agro-forestry as well as capture and culture fisheries are urgently needed.

My own motivation has come from the fact that all the indicators in the world, the hunger index or whatever index you say, shows a high prevalence of malnutrition.

The Climate Risk Managers can be trained in the science and art of managing uncertain rainfall patterns leading to drought or flood.

Aberrations in monsoon behaviour are not uncommon, having been with us throughout our agricultural history.

Land is becoming a diminishing resource for agriculture, in spite of a growing understanding that the future of food security will depend upon the sustainable management of land resources as well as the conservation of prime farmland for agriculture.

Farmers, young and old, educated and uneducated, have easily taken to the new agronomy. It has been heart-warming to see young college graduates, retired officials, ex-armymen, illiterate peasants and small farmers queuing up to get the new seeds.

Famines were frequent in colonial India and some estimates indicate that 30 to 40 million died out of starvation in Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Bengal during the later half of the 19th century.

In India, unlike in the United States and Australia, agriculture is not just a food producing enterprise but also the backbone of the livelihood security of nearly 60 per cent of the population.

Looking ahead, the bright spot in Indian agriculture is the availability of a large untapped production reservoir.

At least five cents in every acre should be reserved for the construction of ponds to store rainwater.

There is an urgent need for regeneration of fisheries and fostering a sustainable fisheries programme. What I mean is, designing new fishing vessels and nets so that they do not disrupt the fish lifecycle by catching young ones and also do not destroy sea grass beds, which serve as habitats for dugongs.

The rain-cum-solar energy centre functioning in Chennai is a source of credible public information on rainwater harvesting and solar energy use. Such centres need to be replicated in all our cities, towns and block headquarters.