International Symposium

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M.S. Swaminathan Chairman, National Commission on Farmers, Government of India President, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs Looking Back at the Green Revolution Des Moines 19 October 2006 The World Food Prize 2006 International Symposium

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Statue of Mahatma Gandhi outside Pietermaritzburg Railway Station, South Africa where he was thrown out of a first class compartment This year marks the centenary of Gandhi’s non-violent, non-cooperation movement which inspired among others Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and Cory Aquino

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“To a people famishing and idle, the only acceptable form in which God can dare appear is work and promise of food as wages”

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“Everything else can wait, but not Agriculture” Jawaharlal Nehru, August 14-15, 1947 India’s tryst with destiny Agriculture is the Greatest Living, Private Sector Industry of India providing Livelihood to over 600 million persons

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Adherance to a democratic system of governance from the village to the national level Green Revolution leading to adequate food availability (from begging bowl to bread basket) The most significant achievements of the first 50 years August 14-15, 1997 : Fiftieth Anniversary of India’s Independence Shri. K. R. Narayanan, President of India, August 14-15, 1997

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Pope John Paul II discussing the management of the Sahelian Drought, 1983

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Haiti Can’t- be-saved Egypt Can’t-be-saved The Gambia Walking Wounded Tunisia Should Receive Food Libya Walking Wounded India Can’t-be-saved Pakistan Should Receive Food - Paul and William Paddock, 1967 Famine: Triage Classification of Countries

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Daruma (Japanese semi-dwarf) X Fultz (U.S. winter wheat, high yield) Fultz-Daruma (semi-dwarf, high yield) Locals (adapted to U.S. Northwest) X X Turkey Red (U.S. winter, high yield) Norin 10 (semi-dwarf, winter, high yield) (Dr Gonziro Inazuka in 1935) Gaines (semi-dwarf, winter, U.S. adpted) X Local Strains New Wheats (semi-dwarf, high yield, adaptable, rust-resistant, fast-maturing,spring) Era of Sharing of Genetic Resources

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Wheat Revolution Symphony (1968) (Pan GoI Approach) Technology Services Public Policies Farmers’ enthusiasm

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“Brimming with enthusiasm, hard-working, skilled and determined, the Punjab farmer has been the backbone of the revolution. Revolutions are usually associated with the young, but in this revolution, age has been no obstacle to participation. 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. At least in the Punjab, the divorce between intellect and labour, which has been the bane of our agriculture is vanishing” Secret of Success : Farmer – Scientist Partnership - M S Swaminathan “The Punjab Miracle”, The Illustrated Weekly of India , May 11, 1969

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“Intensive cultivation of land without conservation of soil fertility and soil structure would lead ultimately to the springing up of deserts. Irrigation without arrangements for drainage would result in soils getting alkaline or saline. Indiscriminate use of pesticides, fungicides and herbicides could cause adverse changes in biological balance as well as lead to an increase in the incidence of cancer and other diseases, through the toxic residues present in the grains or other edible parts. Unscientific tapping of underground water would lead to the rapid exhaustion of this wonderful capital resource left to us through ages of natural farming. The rapid replacement of numerous locally adapted varieties with one or two high yielding strains in large contiguous areas would result in the spread of serious diseases capable of wiping out entire crops, as happened prior to the Irish potato famine of 1845 and the Bengal rice famine of 1942. Therefore, the initiation of exploitative agriculture without a proper understanding of the various consequences of every one of the changes introduced into traditional agriculture and without first building up a proper scientific and training base to sustain it, may only lead us into an era of agricultural disaster in the long run, rather than to an era of agricultural prosperity.” - M.S. Swaminathan Indian Science Congress, Varanasi, January 4, 1968 Sustainable Food Production

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Will Malthus Continue to be Wrong? We need to set priorities, understand reasons that make ecosystems resistant or vulnerable; also whether stressed ecosystems, such as marine fisheries, have a threshold at which they won’t recover India will be the most populated country in the world by 2030 What don’t we know? 1 July 2005 Vol 309 Science Some questions we face in Biology today

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Green Revolution and Evergreen Revolution : Pathways

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Threats to an Ever-green Revolution Invasive Alien Species Abiotic Stresses Biotic Stresses Market factors Climate Change Constraints in the exchange of genetic resources IPR and access to technologies Diminishing support to public good research

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Biodiversity & Molecular Breeding : Mangroves “There are no useless plants” - Charaka

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Open field trial of a transgenic rice plant with Superoxide dismutase gene from Avicennia marina Field Trails being carried out at Kalpakkam

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Prosopis juliflora has wide adaptation to water stress and drought conditions Used as source material for drought tolerant genes Control 36 days of water withdrawal Genetic Shield Preparing for adverse changes in precipitation

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Our ability to achieve a paradigm shift from green to an ever-green revolution and our ability to face the challenges of global warming and sea level rise will depend upon our ability to harmonise organic farming and the new genetics. The Way Ahead

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Post Harvest Processing & Value addition Water Bank Community Gene Bank Seed Bank Cultivation Community Grain Bank Participatory Breeding Field Gene Bank Consumption Genetic Enhancement Conservation Community Food, Nutrition and Water Security System

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Livestock and Livelihoods Over 50 million women and 15 million men are involved in Dairy Enterprises in India Farming Systems Diversification and Value Addition 8% growth rate in horticulture and animal husbandry will be necessary to achieve 4% growth rate in agriculture as a whole India : Largest Producer of Milk in the World

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Jamsetji Tata National Virtual Academy for Rural Prosperity [NVA] State Level Hub (MSSRF) Data Managers (both connectivity and content) Data Generators & Providers Data Users (Rural families) Block level hub Uplink Satellite Web based interactive portal ICT-enabled knowledge flow Lab to Lab, Lab to Land, Land to Lab, Land to Land

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Torch bearers of the Rural Knowledge Revolution

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Life saving role of VKC during Tsunami (26 December 2004)- VEERAMPATTINAM http://www.nemoc.navy.mil/Library/Metoc/Indian+Ocean/Bay+of+Bengal/Models/Swaps/Sig+Wav+Ht+and+Dir+Series/index.html

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Population rich but land hungry countries like China and India have no option except to produce more food grains and other agricultural commodities per units of land and water under conditions of diminishing per capita availability of arable land and irrigation water, and of expanding biotic and abiotic stresses. Such a challenge can be met only by harnessing the best in frontier technologies and blending them with our rich heritage of ecological prudence. Eco-technologies for an Ever-green revolution should be the bottom line of our strategy to shape our agricultural future. No Time to Relax Shaping our Agricultural Future

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Iowa gifted to the world great visionaries and missionaries like Henry Wallace, Norman Borlaug, Aldo Leopold and George Washington Carver. Norman Borlaug’s epic fight against hunger is well known. George Washington Carver served as an Advisor to Mahatma Gandhi on matters relating to eliminating poverty and improving human nutrition. It is therefore appropriate that Iowa is the home to the World Food Prize Foundation. George Washington Carver