Author and historian Priyambada Jayakumar’s book The Man Who Fed India chronicles the life of MS Swaminathan – the man responsible for India’s Green Revolution – exploring facets of his life beyond his role as a renowned agricultural scientist.

What began as a lockdown project in Singapore transformed into a compelling biography of one of post-Independence India’s most influential figures. Jayakumar – who is also Swaminathan’s niece – sat down with Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri to discuss her book, her process behind writing it and her life.    

Among a host of fascinating insights, the book unveils how India's food security crisis was intrinsically linked to national sovereignty. In the 1960s, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi came under relentless pressure from the United States, which used PL 480 – a conditional food aid programme – as diplomatic leverage to deter New Delhi from countering Pakistani aggression and from taking independent foreign policy positions on issues such as the Vietnam War.

It is this backdrop that made the Green Revolution not just a resounding success of domestic agriculture but a strategic imperative for political autonomy.

Jayakumar’s research also uncovers the domestic political struggles behind the Green Revolution, revealing that elements within the government opposed it. At a time when India’s foreign exchange reserves were critically low, some government officials questioned the wisdom of importing 18,000 tons of Mexican seeds. Despite this opposition, Gandhi wasn’t afraid to take a calculated risk and gave her backing to Swaminathan during what the author describes as a “lonely” journey.

However, the book extends beyond policy to capture Swaminathan’s personal moments: his presence at Birla House during Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, his seven-week struggle to convince a single farmer to trial the hybrid seeds, and his work as an unofficial roving diplomat across Vietnam, the Philippines, and Cambodia.

When asked about the state of farmers in India today, Jayakumar said that “his greatest regret” was that the recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers, which he chaired between 2004 and 2006, were never converted into law, adding that his vision for comprehensive farmer welfare remains unfulfilled.

Watch.