The recipient of prestigious National Awards from the President of India: the Padma Shri (1967), Padma Bhushan (1972) and Padma Vibushan (1989), Swaminathan was the inaugural World Food Prize winner in 1987. He used the proceeds from the Prize to establish the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) headquartered at Chennai, as a not-for-profit trust.

For Swaminathan, the poor farm family was the focus, whose needs he aimed to serve through scientific approaches. Right from the very first project on Coastal Systems Research’ at Vettaikaraniruppu in Nagapattinam district, where sustainable agriculture was introduced and the people grew groundnuts under coconut palms and moringa trees – “putting people first” has always been a steady principal for Swaminathan and MSSRF.

Over three decades he steered MSSRF as Founder & Chairman, driving policy, dialogues, programmes, and projects among agricultural scientists, social scientists, field staff, and farmers making it possible to “reach the unreached.” MSSRF’s many programmes in the areas of mangroves, coastal systems, fisheries, agro-biodiversity, biotechnology, climate change, environmental conservation, natural resource management, gender empowerment, science communication and eco technologies, in collaboration with global and national institutions, have aimed to address food security, ecological security and livelihood security.

MSSRF aims to accelerate to use of modern science and technology for agricultural and rural development thereby improving the lives and livelihoods of farmers, tribal, and fisher communities. With a pro-poor, pro-women and pro-nature approach, MSSRF uses evidence-based science to address practical problems of marginalised populations.

From the Blue Planet Prize in 1996 to the latest 2023 Women Connect Challenge Grant Award, MSSRF has won numerous prizes over the last 34 years under the guidance of M S Swaminathan. He was not just a scientist – Swaminathan was also a renowned administrator and a brillant policy maker, who influenced agricultural and environmental policies nationally and globally. His rich legacy continues through MSSRF.