The M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF)was registered as a non-profit, scientific Trust in July 1988 with its initial funds derived from the first World Food Prize awarded to Dr. M.S. Swaminathan in 1987. The major goal of the Foundation is the amelioration of the plight of the rural poor through organisational, technological and economic empowerment in the fields of agriculture and allied activities. The Foundation serves as a resource for innovative and socially dedicated scientists and scholars
as well as non-governmental organisations dedicated to the cause of integrating the dimensions of ecology and gender equity with those of economics and employment in technology development and dissemination. To carry out its research and education programmes, MSSRF established the Centre for Research on Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development (CRSARD) at Madras in February, 1990, as a non-profit, scientific, registered ,Society.
