Guv urges youth to bring in another green revolution

Speaking after conferring the late Dr Mohan Dharia Rashtranirman Puraskar award on eminent agricultural scientist Prof MS Swaminathan, organised by the Vanarai Foundation here, he said the younger generation should rise up  to the occasion to bring about another green revolution 

in India.

Quoting the words of Mahatma Gandhi, he said the soul of India lives in its villages and indeed agriculture was the primary occupation of the bulk of the population, which lives in the rural areas.

Purohit said though agriculture contributes only about 26 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product it meets the food requirements of a population of 125 crore, besides producing the raw materials for industrial growth.

“Today Indian agriculture has reached a level where the Nation has emerged as the largest exporter of rice in the world,” he said.

“But 60 years before it was not so. The agricultural scenario was different. Farmers grew traditional long duration crops that gave moderate to poor yields, because of which the food production was low and highly inadequate to satisfy the Nation’s food requirements,” he said.

Stating that the country owed a lot to Dr Swaminathan, who played a key role in uplifting Indian agriculture to its present level of self sufficiency, the Governor recalled his contributions and said a plant geneticist by training, he made a stellar contribution to the agricultural renaissance of India and was widely regarded as the scientific leader of India’s Green Revolution movement.

Dr Swaminathan along with Norman Bolaug and other scientists, developed the High Yielding Varieties (HYV) of wheat, a scientific development that led to the Green Revolution in India, he pointed out. 

The yield increases achieved in wheat and then in rice which have occurred in the last 50 years have made India self sufficient in food production, he added.

He said researchers and scientists should not only draw inspiration from great personalities like Dr Swaminathan, but should also seek his guidance and advice to attain excellence.