Eminent agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan will be bestowed with an honorary doctorate by a premier Canadian university, recognising the “power of one person to uplift an entire society,” and his contribution over the last 50 years to global food security.
The Edmonton-based University of Alberta will confer Dr. Swaminathan (85) with an honorary doctor of science degree on October 7.
He will also deliver the Bentley Lecture in Sustainable Agriculture/Lester Pearson Memorial Lecture on the occasion.
“In recognition of his efforts over the last half-a-century, Swaminathan will receive a University of Alberta honorary doctor of science degree on October 7,” the University website reported.
University Chancellor Linda Hughes said Dr. Swaminathan's “legacy reminds all of us of the power of one person to uplift an entire society.”
Dr. Swaminathan will speak on “Food Safety and Security in an Era of Climate Change.” In the 1960s, Dr. Swaminathan pioneered techniques to crossbreed a dwarf Mexican seed with Japanese seeds and local Indian varieties of wheat.
As head of the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines for seven years, Dr. Swaminathan then used the same techniques to modify rice seeds with similar results.— PTI
