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22 SEEDWORLD.COM OCTOBER 2015 Goshen College and went to work farming. One July in 1907 or 1908 a terrible storm swept through Central Illinois devastating the corn crop. With his brother Arthur O.J. Sommer picked up nearly a dozen of the best ears available from their fields and started again making their own selections and planting again the next year. The brothers were so successful that neighbors were interested in buying their seed and the Sommer Brothers Seed Company was born in 1909. The company prospered. In 1925 Sommer Yellow-Dent was recognized as a distinct variety. And in 1936 the com- pany became an associate grower of Funks-G-Hybrids which it would be until 1973 when it became part of Golden Harvest later pur- chased by Syngenta in 2004. O. J. Sommer was seen as an innovative seedsman who tested new selection and drying methods through his company. He was selected the first president of the newly formed Illinois Crop Improvement Association in 1922. He led the group that has played for nearly a century a significant role in preserving the purity of seed and certify- ing seed throughout the state. He served until 1925. Two other Sommers men would also serve in that role O.J.s son Theodore from 1977-1979 and O.J.s grand- son James from 2001-2003. O.J. Sommer died in 1961. M.S. Swaminathan In the 1960s India faced a future of possible famines as its population outstripped its ability to grow enough food. The country imported grain to make up for shortfalls. After studying agriculture in the Netherlands and earning set up test plots to bring farmers up to speed in modern agricul- tural techniques and to show that the new varieties would work in their fields. After four crop seasons wheat production grew from 12 mil- lion to 23 million tons ending the need for grain imports. Swaminathan would go on to serve as director general of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research principal secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture director general of the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines and chairman of the National Commission on Farmers for the Government of India. In addition to the 1987 World Food Prize he was awarded the UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize the UNESCO Gandhi Gold Medal the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace Disarmament and Development and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Award. Swaminathan used his World Food Prize money to open the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai India in 1988 to coordinate research between rural citi- zens and global leaders. He serves as the foundations emeritus chairman and chief mentor. SW a doctorate in plant genetics in the United Kingdom as well as time working in the United States M.S. Swaminathan wanted to go back to his country to address those seri- ous problems. He did just that working at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute and converting a gen- eration of farmers to new plant technology and high-yielding crop varieties. Having learned of Norman Borlaugs new dwarf Mexican wheat varieties he invited the famed scientist to India to help develop varieties that would work there. And Swaminathan Responsible for leading Indias Green Revolution M.S. Swaminathan spearheaded the introduction of high-yielding wheat and rice varieties to Indias farmers. The word impossible exists mainly in our minds. But given the requisite will and effort great tasks can be accomplished. Father of M.S. Swaminathan