B. R. Barwale Biography 
Badrinarayan Ramulal Barwale, shortly called B. R. Barwale is widely regarded as the father of the Indian seeds industry. He revolutionised farming practices in India by producing very cheap and high-yielding seeds in the Marathwada region. In 1998 he was awarded World Food Prize for these contributions. For his overall contributions towards the field of Indian agriculture, trade and economic activity, government of India honoured him with Padma Bhushan Award in 2001.He turned Jalna, an otherwise nondescript district in Maharashtra, into the epicentre of the Indian seeds industry. He died on 24 July 2017 in Mumbai at the age of 86.
Badrinarayan Ramulal Barwale was born in 1931 in Hingoli, Nizam state. Now his birthplace belongs to Maharashtra. He began farming on his family's land in the 1950s. He started off with a high yield hybrid variety of okra which he bought from a fair. In 1964, he started the Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company, shortly called Mahyco. A small team of breeders employed by him exploited hybrid breeding technology to develop a series of high-yielding seeds of sorghum, pearl millet, cotton, sunflower, pulses and oilseeds.
He produced high quality seeds and distributed through Mahyco. Those high quality seeds were affordable prices for farmers and thus revolutionised farming practices in India within a short interval of time. He also produced new seed varieties of several different crops, thus diversifying his services.
Apart from giving quality seeds at low prices, he also helped farmers through many means, such as assistance and guaranteeing loans for cultivating Mahyco's seeds. He received valuable feedback for his efforts and improved quality to produce better yields. Barwale played an important role in bringing Bt cotton into the country in year 2002, when he formed a 50:50 venture with Monsanto Investments to form Mahyco Monsanto Biotech.
Published: January 30, 2019
Updated: January 31, 2019
