M. S. Swaminathan

“Rain harvesting should be made mandatory and should be made more systematic to ensure that every drop of rain is preserved.”

“The more powerful a technology greater care should be used to benefit fro it. India should not be left behind the world. From the past revolution of nuclear technology we saw how it could destruct and at the same time were useful for medical science.”

“In Punjab wheat production it is a 'gamble of temperature' unlike other parts of the country where there is a 'gamble of rainfall'.”

“Contract farming can be promoted if it is structured on the basis of a win-win situation both for the producer and the purchaser.”

“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.”

“In spite of the dominant role played by women in both farming, they are denied credit as they lack land titles. Only a small percentage of Kisan Credit Cards goes to them.”

“India unfortunately has the unenviable reputation of being the home to the largest number of undernourished children, women and men in the world.”

“The National Policy for Farmers calls for a paradigm shift from measuring agricultural progress merely in terms of growth rates, to measuring it in terms of the growth in the real income of farm families.”

“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.”

“You can classify farmers into two major groups. One who saves seeds for the next crop and the other who purchases seeds from the market. Most of the commercial farmers like the US farmers are people who purchase seeds.”

“Land tenure is key to protecting land rights. The Central and State governments should have accessible systems for registering, tracking and protecting land rights, including customary rights and common property resources.”

“Floods will become more serious and frequent in the Indo-Gangetic plains. Drought induced food and water scarcity will become more acute. South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the small islands will be the worst victims.”

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

“I always ask the farmers, when you get up in the morning, is there some information which you are lacking which you would like to have? Invariably they talk about weather, the market price.”

“The government only gives subsidies for nitrogenous fertilisers. With the result, farmers do not apply balanced fertilisers.”

“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.”

“There is talk about the need for a second Green Revolution. However, such a revolution is nowhere in sight.”

“If agriculture goes wrong, nothing else will have a chance to go right.”

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