Dr M. S. Swaminathan is well known as the Father of India’s Green Revolution. He was born on August 7, 1925, in Kumbakonam, Tamilnadu.

His dedicated work on plant genetics and agricultural research produced a high-tech invention in wheat crops with staggering results that paved the way for a green revolution in India in the mid sixties.

He created a wheat plant by cross-breeding seeds from Mexico with a local species that yielded plentiful grains compared to traditional varieties. Thus the imminent famine was averted not only in India but throughout Asia.

Sir. T.S.Venkatraman was responsible for the spectacular achievement in evolving improved varieties and thereby stabilizing sugarcane industry in the country as it stands today and the worldwide recognition of the Coimbatore Institute. He was acclaimed in sugarcane circles over the world as the “Sugarcane Wizard”. He assisted Dr. C.A. Barber, the Founder Director of Sugarcane Research Station since its inception and took over as the Government Sugarcane Expert after the retirement of Dr. C.A. Barber in 1918.

Gopalasamudram Sitaraman Venkataraman was a remarkable person who hailed from an obscure village in southern India and made a mark as a farm scientist and one of the most illustrious persons this country has ever produced. Born on 1 February 1930 at Tenkasi in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, Venkataraman had his early education in his native village. His father G. R. Sitaraman, a freedom fighter and a lover of books had his own personal library which made an impact on young Venkataraman who developed a love for books at quite an early age. After completing his matric in the village school, and his intermediate in St. Xavier’s College, Palayamkottai, he obtained his B Sc Degree at A. C. College, Karaikudi, where he came under the influence of S. Doraisamy, an algologist and a student of the great doyen of algology, M. O. P. Iyengar. He completed his master’s degree at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) with merit and joined Y. Bharadwaja for his doctorate, with a GOI fellowship of Rs 200 p.m. ‘BHU days were the happiest days’, he used to say ‘since it provided opportunities and challenges’. He utilized both of them to his advantage and took his Ph D and DSc from BHU.