Krishnaswamy Ramiah MBE (15 April 1892 – 3 August 1988) was an Indian agricultural scientist, geneticist, parliamentarian and the founder director of Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack,^[1] credited with introducing systematic hybridisation programmes in rice breeding in India.^[2] The Government of India honoured him in 1957, with the award of Padma Shri, the fourth-highest Indian civilian award for his services to the nation and followed it up with the third-highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan in 1970.^[3]

Biography

Ramiah, born in 1892,^[2] started his career, in 1914, as a member of research staff at the Paddy Breeding Station in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.^[1] In three years time, by 1917, he produced new crossbreeds of rice though pure line selection and breed improvement.^[2] Later, he introduced systematic hybridisation programmes, known to be the first Indian scientist to pursue such a protocol in rice breeding.^[1] When the Government of India established the Central Rice Research Institute in 1946, Ramiah was selected to head the institution as its founder director^[2] and continued at his post when the institute was later brought under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.^[4] During his tenure there, he also led the International Rice Commission, a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) initiative. He was reported to have contributed to the FAO sponsored Indo-Japonica Hybridization programme^[1] which yielded the nitrogen responsive rice varieties of Mahsuri, Malinja, ADT 27 and Circna, the first two released in Malaysia, the third in India and the last one, in Australia.^[5] He also evolved a number of varieties of rice which include GEB 24, ADT 3, CO 4 and CO 25.^[6] The GEB 24 variety is a progenitor for 83 rice varieties developed across countries.^[7]

Ramiah was one of the first scientists who advocated for standardisation of gene symbols for rice.^[2] Serving as the FAO expert based in Bangkok, he was involved with the rice breeding in many countries.^[1][2] He was known to have conducted advanced research on X-ray induced mutation of rice^[2] and established a gene bank for rice.^[8] He was the author of two books on the subject, Rice in Madras^[9] and Rice Breeding and Genetics.^[10]

The British government appointed Ramiah a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1938 Birthday Honours list.^[11] After India's independence, the Government of India recognised his services by awarding him the fourth-highest civilian honour of Padma Shri in 1957 and the third-highest honour of the Padma Bhushan in 1970.^[3][12] The Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay has instituted Ramiah Memorial Lecture, an annual lecture event, in his honour.^[13] He died on 3 August 1988, survived by his five sons and two daughters and their families; his wife had predeceased him.^[1]