Catherine Bristow Author

 

 Swaminathania salitolerans is  a nitrogen-fixing, phosphate-solubilizing bacterium found in wild rice. It gets its name from  Dr. M.S.  Swaminathan, the Father of the Green Revolution, and its ability to tolerate a high salinity.

Dr. Swaminathan is a geneticist, sustainability advocate, and public health figure from Kumbakonam, India. He is responsible for many agricultural programs such as the Green Revolution, which saw widespread planting of specially bred high-yielding strains of rice and wheat, as well as other agricultural advancements to try to help those in poverty and end world hunger.

His passion for eradicating widespread hunger stemmed from watching the Great Bengal Famine of 1943 claim the lives of 3 million people. He was also influenced by Mahatma Ghandi, of whom his father was an ardent follower, to drive out hunger from India permanently.

He has received many honors for his scientific and humanitarian work, including the Global Environmental Leadership Award, the first ever World Food prize, and has been called the Father of Economic Ecology by the UN.

Sources:

Loganathan, P. and Nair, S. (2004) Swaminathania salitolerans gen. nov., sp. nov., a salt-tolerant, nitrogen-fixing and phosphate-solubilizing bacterium from wild rice (Porteresia coarctata Tateoka). International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 54(4):1185-1190.

M. S. Swaminathan. (2019, January 14). Retrieved January 16, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._S._Swaminathan

Photo source:

Swaminathan to get World Agriculture Prize. (n.d.). Retrieved January 16, 2019, from https://www.apnnews.com/swaminathan-to-get-world-agriculture-prize/