M S Swaminathan Research Foundation is carrying out research and development in six major thematic areas such as Coastal Systems Research (restoration of mangrove forests, alternative livelihood for fishing community, etc.), Biotechnology (developing salt and drought tolerant transgenic rice varieties, testing availability of oil content in different biofuel crops / plants, lichens diversity, etc.), Biodiversity (documenting endangered and medicinal plants, providing necessary training to village community to maintain biodiversity register, conserving genes and seeds through ex-situ community based gene bank, and in-situ on-farm conservation etc.), Ecotechnology (setting up bio-villages – biovillage paradigm involves sustainable management of natural resources and developing sustainable on-farm and non-farm livelihoods as eco-enterprises managed by self-help groups), Food Security (promoting community - based grain bank, developing urban and rural food insecurity atlases to understand the factors involved in food insecurity, providing livelihood training to women farmers particularly in the “farmers’ suicide hotspots”, etc.) and Information, Education and Communication (addressing the issues related to sustainable development using different information communication technology tools) for knowledge empowerment of the resource-poor, largely illiterate and unskilled rural women and men.