M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation

It was way back in 1970 that Professor C. V. Raman seeded the idea in my mind that I should be involved in establishing a research and training centre in the field of applied ecology, relating to the improvement of the productivity, profitability and sustainability of small-farm agriculture. I decided that I could put this into action when I received the first World Food Prize in 1987. On my return in February 1988 from
the International Rice Research Institute, the Philippines, I started preparations for the setting up of a research centre with major focus on the sustainable management of coastal ecosystems. Both the governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were kind enough to offer facilities for setting up such a research centre. Chennai was more suitable since Tamil Nadu has a long coastline of nearly 1000 km. The World Food Prize was followed by several other prizes like the Honda Prize for Ecotechnology, Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, Sasakawa, Volvo and Blue Planet Environment Prizes, as well as the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development, all of which helped to meet the financial requirements.