Scientist who revolutionised India's greening
Dr Pal's major contribution to the scientific aspects of the Green Revolution was in the area of wheat genetics and breeding. He observed that rust disease was largely responsible for low yields of wheat and, therefore, developed a systematic breeding method to develop varieties with resistance to rust disease.
Farm crisis
To view Dr Pal's contributions in perspective it is important to remember that in the late 1960s that India faced a major crisis on the food front; it came to be viewed as a country of starving people. The Green Revolution, conceptualised and launched under Dr Pal's leadership, was a major achievement for independent India, which over a period not only led to a major increase in productivity and yields in several parts of the country, but also changed India's image, which was transformed from that of a populous country living on gifts of foodgrains largely from the US to an exporter of food.
Dr Norman Borlaug, who is regarded as the scientific inspiration behind the worldwide effort to achieve food self-sufficiency, stated: "It was during Dr Pal's leadership that the agronomic research on wheat in India equalled the best in the world. He was truly the architect of India's Green Revolution."
The lesson that scientists and researchers can derive from Dr Pal's outstanding example and record is that the economic gains for society from science depend not only on a high level of scientific knowledge, but also in the practice of certain values and ethics which are an essential ingredient of effective leadership and the ability to inspire others.
Man of many facets
Dr Pal was born in Punjab on May 26, 1906, but his father moved to Burma, then a British colony, to work as a Medical Officer. Dr Pal studied at St. Michael's School in Maymyo, Burma, and perhaps his inspiration and love for roses came from that location, because the school was reputed to have a beautiful rose garden with several of the teachers very fond of gardening and painting.
Dr Pal himself was an accomplished artist and, even in his last few years, painted regularly. Dr M. S. Swaminathan wrote in 1989: "Dr Pal was always first in his class at school. Once he was presented with a paintbox as a gift and this led to a life-long passion for painting. As I write this memoir, I have in front of me a lovely painting of the River Cam in Cambridge which Pal painted when he was working for his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge with Sir Rowland Biffen, F.R.S., and Professor Sir Frank Engledow, F.R.S., and which he later presented to me... "
In 1929 Dr Pal qualified for the Masters degree in Botany at Rangoon University where he also won the Matthew Hunter Prize for topping among all science streams in the University. He was awarded a scholarship which permitted him to pursue his post-graduate education at Cambridge. Dr Pal worked with Sir Frank Engledow on hybrid vigour in wheat at the coveted Plant Breeding Institute. This provided the basis for the design of the Green Revolution, essentially based on the commercial exploitation of wheat hybrids.
In March 1933, Dr Pal was appointed Assistant Rice Research Officer in the Burmese Department of Agriculture and, in October, he moved to Pusa, Bihar, to become the Second Economic Botanist at the Imperial Agricultural Research Institute, which was renamed the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in 1947.
`Soul of courtesy'
Dr Pal was a person of unusual humility with a rare sense of humour. His humility is exemplified by a brief account by Mr R. Rajamani, former Secretary, Government of India, who recalls that in 1980 when he was working in the Prime Minister's Office he met Dr Pal in a somewhat unusual context. At that stage Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was contemplating setting up a new Department of Environment. She needed inputs from some distinguished experts in the field, and asked Mr Rajamani to meet Dr Pal, who, she felt, would provide objective and meaningful advice on this subject. Mr Rajamani recalled that when he met Dr Pal, the latter was "the soul of courtesy and hospitality".
Mr Rajamani was hesitant to broach the subject of his visit with Dr Pal, as a younger person and a bureaucrat. Dr Pal took Mr Rajamani through the terrace of his house and spent nearly an hour describing the collection of his roses and discussing the future of floriculture in this country.
There was a significance in this encounter, according to Mr Rajamani, because in later years he realised that Dr Pal had really introduced him to the nuances of the conservation ethic and science while talking specifically only about flowers. Mr Rajamani stated that the moral he derived from this interaction was that "you may have profound knowledge but you must learn to carry it lightly and disseminate it gently and unobtrusively as Dr Pal did on that day".
Dr Pal was not only an outstanding scientist, but a person who distinguished himself through various attributes. His first love remained the IARI, which he led for 15 years and built up into an institution of global repute. An indication of his attachment to the Institute is evident in the fact that he willed to the IARI all his property, including two houses in New Delhi and Shimla, and his rare collection of roses and other articles.
Dr Pal was a rose breeder of distinction and created several varieties. He was founder President of the Rose Society and Bougainvillea Society. He also founded the Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding and edited the Indian Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding for 25 years.
Dr Pal was elected President of the Indian National Science Academy in 1975 and served as the President of the Indian Science Congress in 1974. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1972 and received numerous awards including the Padma Vibhushan.
Inspiring achievements
India is currently facing a major farm challenge which, as the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has articulated on several occasions, requires a new Green Revolution that focuses on protection of the environment, efficient use of resources and brings about increased productivity and yields of several agricultural products, such that the country's expanding population is able to feed itself adequately and with proper levels of nutrition.
Today (May 26) is Dr Pal's birth centenary, and we would be paying him appropriate homage if we ensure that in the next farm revolution we give as much importance to his knowledge of agriculture and science and his leadership as to environmental sustainability. It is rare to have had a leader of the Green Revolution who was also concerned about protection of the environment. We hope that Dr Pal's example and the inspiration provided by his achievements would form the basis of the resurgence in Indian agriculture.