Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan is a plant geneticist, agricultural scientist and scientific administrator. He was born on 7 August 1925 at Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu. He completed his early school education at the Native High School and, later, the Catholic Little Flower High School in Kumbakonam. He moved to Trivandrum in 1940 to pursue his undergraduate studies in Zoology at University College. The Bengal Famine of 1943 urged M.S. Swaminathan to devote a career to improve agricultural standards and food security in the country. He obtained a B.Sc. in Agriculture in 1947 from the Agricultural College and Research Institute at Coimbatore.

In 1949, he completed his associateship with the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi with distinction in Genetics and Plant Breeding. In 1949, he also qualified the Civil Service Examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission and was offered a position with the Indian Police Service. However, Swaminathan opted for research by accepting the offer to become a UNESCO Fellow in Genetics at the Agricultural University at Wageningen, the Netherlands, during 1949-50. He went on to complete his PhD on 'Species Differentiation, and the Nature of Polyploidy in certain species of the Genus Solanum- section Tuberarium' at the School of Agriculture, Cambridge University, England. Following this, he worked as a research associate in the Department of Genetics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States of America, until 1953.

Swaminathan returned to India in 1954 and undertook work in the Indica Japonica Rice Hybridization Programme at the Central Rice Research Institute, Odisha. In October 1954, he joined the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, as Assistant Cytogeneticist in the Botany Division. He proceeded to head the Botany Division in 1962 and later assumed leadership of IARI from 1966 to 1972. In January 1972, he took the lead as the Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. In 1979, he joined the Government of India as Principal Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation. In 1980, he then retired from government services and joined the Planning Commission as a member for agriculture and rural development. Swaminathan also served as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission between April and June, 1980. In April 1982, he took over as the Director-General of the International Rice Research Institute, Philippines. It was during his tenure at IRRI when he was awarded the first World Food Prize in 1987 at the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington D.C. Returning to India in 1988, he began formally establishing his own research centre named the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, located in Chennai from the proceeds of the World Food Prize. He has also held other administrative positions of importance. He was the Chairman of the National Commission of Farmers, Government of India (2004-06), President of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (2005-07) and was a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (2007-2013). He also served in the capacity of President for the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs from 2002 - 2007.

His early years of research were focused on the origin and differentiation of potato species. He is also popularly known for his contributions to research in wheat and rice, made popular by the 'Green Revolution' in India. Other areas of research include disaster management strategies, improved crop productivity, genetic resource centres and work in biotechnology.

He has authored and edited 18 books and over 250 research papers. He is well-recognized by the scientific community with honorary positions at various academies that include the Royal Society of London, Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Sciences at the United States etc. He has received 84 honorary doctorates and is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (1961), Padma Shri (1967), Ramon Magsaysay Award (1971), Padma Bhushan (1972), World Food Prize (1987), and the Padma Vibhushan (1989).

Born in 1938, PC Kesavan is a distinguished agricultural scientist who has made significant contributions to the field of plant breeding and genetics. He obtained a PhD in Genetics from the University of California, Davis, USA, and did a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Kesavan has been affiliated with the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. His research has primarily focused on rice genetics and breeding, with an emphasis on developing high-yielding and disease-resistant rice varieties. His work has impacted global food security, particularly in Asia, where rice is a staple crop. Dr. Kesavan is a Fellow of the Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding. He has also authored and co-authored several books and research papers in the field of plant breeding and genetics.

Mariappan Velayutham is a soil scientist in India. He earned his PhD from Aberdeen University, Scotland. He has been affiliated with ICAR since the very beginning of his career as a Soil Scientist, Senior Scientist and Principal Scientist and has worked at ICAR and ICAR-CPRCI, Kasargod. Later he was appointed as the Director of the National Institute of Soil Science Survey and Land Use Planning in Nagpur. His contributions are marked by his work in doing surveys with regard to soil testing in different regions and then determining the efficient use of fertilizer and nutrients for that particular soil. His experience as a Project Coordinator in All India Coordinated Project Research has given him insights about the extension system and research administration.

Jagdish Kumar Ladha is an agricultural scientist known for his contributions to sustainable agriculture and soil science. Born in 1952, he earned his PhD in Soil Science from the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), in 1976. He joined the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in 1983, where he promoted resource-efficient practices, particularly rice cultivation. His research has focused on the development and promotion of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). Dr Ladha has received several awards and honours, including the MacArthur Fellowship. Since 2002, he has also held positions at UC Davis, Cornell University, and Columbia University. He has authored and co-authored numerous research papers and books on topics ranging from soil health to sustainable agricultural practices.

Rattan Lal is an Indian-American soil scientist known for his contributions to the fields of soil science and sustainable land management. He was born in 1944, and in 1968, he earned his PhD in Soil Science from the Ohio State University. His research has focused on soil carbon sequestration, a critical aspect of mitigating climate change and enhancing soil health. Dr. Lal's work has had a global impact, with applications in sustainable agriculture, land restoration, and environmental conservation. He has received numerous awards, including the World Food Prize and the Japan Prize. He has authored over 1,500 scholarly articles and several books, including "Soil Carbon Sequestration and the Greenhouse Effect" and "Carbon Sequestration in Agricultural Ecosystems".

Raja Durai Iyer is a plant breeder. He has worked closely with MS Swaminathan during the earlier phases of the Green Revolution and has contributed to the experiments. He has done his education at Delhi University and IARI, Delhi, He has been affiliated with IARI, Delhi and ICAR-CPCRI, Kasargod, and has worked in Mauritius, Burma and Malaysia as a Commonwealth Scientist.

Pallavolu Maheswara Reddy is affiliated with the Department of Biotechnology and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). His research area focuses on sustainable agriculture. He is currently involved with a project on the transfer of carboxysome genes from cyanobacteria to rice to enhance photosynthetic efficiency and potentially enable nitrogen fixation by utilizing the excess photosynthates. He also supervises PhD and post-doctoral students at TERI. He completed his higher studies at Banaras Hindu University (BHU). He has worked at IRRI, Philippines on a project to create transgenic rice which will have nitrogen-fixing genes like in legumes, and has also done research work in the USA and Japan. Before joining TERI, he taught at Goa University and the National Institute of Mexico.

Saradindu Chowdhury is a wheat breeder and administrator. He earned his PhD from Calcutta University under the supervision of MS Swaminathan, while simultaneously working in the Cytogenetics lab at ICAR, Delhi. He has been affiliated with international institutions like CIMMYT, Mexico and Plant Breeding Institute, UK. He was deputed as a wheat breeder in West Bengal, and was later appointed as the Director of IARI, Pusa, Bihar.

Bui Ba Bong is a Vietnamese agricultural scientist who has made contributions to agriculture and rural development in Vietnam. Born in 1944, in Vietnam, he earned his Master's and PhD in Crop Science from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India. He was the last student under the supervision of MS Swaminathan. He spent most of his career working in Rice Research Institute, Vietnam -- first as a scientist, followed by the Head of the Plant Breeding Division, Deputy Director, and finally Director of the institute. He also served as the Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in Vietnam from 2001 to 2013. During this time, he oversaw agricultural research, education, and extension services across the nation. His work led to improvements in infrastructure, research programs, and the training of scientists within Vietnam's agricultural sector. He is also known for his advocacy of technology transfer and collaboration between government research institutes and private companies in agricultural development.

Gurdev Khush, born in 1935, is a plant geneticist who contributed to developing rice strains that enhanced the quality and quantity of the rice supply in countries facing food shortage. He earned a PhD from the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), in 1960, and later spent over three decades working at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines before returning to UC Davis in 2002. He has received numerous awards, including the Borlaug Award in 1977, the Japan Prize in 1987, the 1996 World Food Prize for improving the supply of rice, the 2000 Wolf Prize in Agriculture, the International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Award from the Government of China and the Padma Shri in 2001, the Golden Sickle Award in 2007, and Mahathir Science Award in 2009.