pro-poor, pro-nature & pro-women.
| The Early Years : 1990 to 1993 |
| MSSRF started its research work with the help of infrastructural facilities provided by the Anna University and the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, where Dr. M. S. Swaminathan was appointed Honorary Research Professor. Four important conferences supported by national and international bodies were organised at Chennai. They were: |
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| It was decided to organise a major inter-disciplinary dialogue on a topic of contemporary relevance at the beginning of each year. The 1991 Dialogue on New Technologies: Reaching the Unreached related to biotechnology. This resulted in the organisation of biovillages. The 1992 Dialogue, on Information Sciences and Technology, explored the possibilities of reaching the benefits of information and communication technologies to the rural poor. The participants, a broad spectrum of experts from India and abroad, designed prototype 'Information Villages' where value-added and location-specific information would reach every doorstep. In 1993, the Dialogue on Ecoteehnology and Rural Employment generated useful ideas for promoting a job-led economic growth strategy based on environmentally and socially sustainable technologies. The biovillage became the scene for ecotechnology in action. |
| The first research proposal of the Foundation related to the setting up of a Genetic Resource Centre for Adaptation to Sea Level Rise at Pichavaram (a coastal base at Chidambaram, in the state of Tamil Nadu). On its being granted financial support by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, rented premises were taken up at Kotturpuram where the laboratories and administrative office were set up. Recruitment of staff commenced on 1 April 1990. The Tamil Nadu government granted 2.5 acres of land on a 30-year lease in the Taramani Institutional Area at Chennai, and steps were initiated to design MSSRF's permanent establishment. The foundation stone of the building was laid on 14 April 1991. |
| MSSRF's first international support came from the International Tropical Timber Organisation, Japan, which approved a project for developing a network of genetic resource centres for conserving the germplasm of mangrove forest species and for establishing a Mangrove Ecosystem Information Service (MEIS). The ITTO project also included provision for organising an international (raining course for managers of mangrove genetic resource centres. This was attended by 20 participants from 12 countries. |
| Other projects during this time included the Biovillage Project and the Coastal Systems Research, begun with the respective support of the Asian Development Bank and the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Mumbai, and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada. The Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) agreed to fund a Biodiversity programme for four years. This also received support from several other institutions at home and abroad. The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India approved financial support for a 5-year project on the Application of Biotechnology in the Conservation of Endangered Plant Species for Genetic Enhancement. This grant helped the Foundation to establish the molecular biology, microbiology, and tissue culture laboratories. |
| MSSRF was deemed the headquarters for the Tamil Nadu Council for Achieving the Threshold for a Productive and Healthy Life for All. The Hunger Project gave support to this major programme in the areas of awareness generation, education and economic opportunities for women, co-ordinated planning and action in achieving the threshold, and for training. |
| Professor M. S. Swaminathan was a member of the Indian delegation led by the Prime Minister to the UN Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. The principles and goals enunciated in Agenda 21 of the Rio Conference were integrated in an appropriate manner in the concerned areas of the Foundation. The 1993 Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) drew attention to a dangerous phenomenon in global economic development, that of jobless economic growth. Keeping in view the objectives of the Foundation, priority was accorded to enhancing human skills. In the case of rural and tribal women without assets like land or livestock or specialised skills, it was decided that the goal should be to reduce the number of work hours per day and add economic value to each hour of their work by training them in skilled jobs. |
| The beginning of 1993 saw MSSRF move into its own building. Several environmental principles were incorporated in its structural design. The courtyard was planned to depict the five ecological zones - kurinchi, mullai, marutham, neital, and palai - described in classical Tamil literature. The use of wood in the structure was restricted, rain water is harvested and diverted to the aquifer, and computers were to be run on solar energy. On 14 April 1993 (Tamil New Year), it was formally dedicated to the use of science for fostering sustainable human livelihood and the conservation of nature. On that occasion, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu announced the allotment of an adjoining 2.5-acre plot of land to enable the expansion of the M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation. Generous backing from its various supporters has helped in establishing the infrastructure in this building to maintain its excellent research facilities. |