Dr Swati Nayak, or the Seed Lady (Bihana Didi), an Indian scientist at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), has been bestowed with the prestigious 2023 ‘Norman E Borlaug Award’ for Field Research and Application. Dr Swati Nayak is the South Asia Head of Seed System and Product Management at IRRI, New Delhi. She became the third Indian to receive the Norman Borlaug Award. The other two include Aditi Mukherjee (2012) and Mahalingam Govindaraj (2022).
Dr Swati Nayak's Remarkable Achievement
The Norman Borlaug Award recognizes Dr Nayak’s groundbreaking work in establishing demand-driven rice seed systems that engage smallholder farmers, with a special focus on climate-resilient and nutritious rice varieties. Dr Swati Nayak and her team developed an interesting strategy to establish a drought-tolerant variety of Shahbhagi Dhan rice in Odisha, ultimately gaining huge public attention.
Due to this variety of rice, there was a big change in rainfed agricultural areas. Moreover, this variety of rice became an integral part of the food and crop cycle of all farmer families. At the same time, Dr Swati Nayak's diligent strategy, partnership, and unique positioning model have successfully cultivated many climate-resistant rice varieties in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
Norman E Borlaug Award
The Norman E. Borlaug Award is given in memory of Dr Norman Borlaug, a Nobel laureate and chief architect of the Green Revolution. It is presented to exceptional scientists under the age of 40 years working in the fields of food and nutrition security and hunger alleviation.
Dr Swati Nayak's Life
Agricultural scientist Dr Swati Nayak is a resident of Odisha. Nayak completed her Bachelor of Agricultural Sciences at Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University between 2003-2007.
After completion, she did her Masters in Rural Management at the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) between 2008-2010.
She further pursued her Ph.D between 2017-2022 in Competitive Intelligence and Strategic Management for Agricultural Extension Management Strategy at Amity University.
