MS Swaminathan

For two decades, Telangana's Veer Shetty Biradar -- the founder of SS Bhavani Foods -- has been making millets like sorghum, bajra, foxtail millet and finger millet accessible to the masses.

Awarded the Padma Bhushan posthumously, Dr Sanjaya Rajaram, an Indian-Mexican agricultural scientist, developed high-yielding and disease-resistant wheat varieties that small and large farmers grow across 51 countries.

Deemed the second highest position at the UN agency, she will be working under Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. She is the first Indian to hold one of the highest ranks in the WHO.

The varieties of dwarf wheat developed by Borlaug are credited for saving millions of Indians from starvation.