By R.Swathi
‘Footprints on the sands of plant physiology concepts and discoveries – Revisited’ is a very special book. Re-written by Dr.Seshadri Kannan, a nonagenarian, it includes the latest developments in plant physiology since the book was last published (in 2000), by the same author.
Adyar Times visited the author to learn more about him and his book. The 96-year-old author beams as he explains the various aspects of the book, “I have tried to cover some interesting topics through my book, like photosynthesis, green revolution, using fertilizers in farming etc.” He goes on to explain his work with stalwarts like agronomists Sylvan Harold Wittwer, Dr.Emmanuel Epstein and others.
It is definitely no ordinary feat to come out with a book at this age, especially given that now is an era of technology. “Well, I have to keep myself relevant, thus making myself comfortable with technology. I have the day with me to learn, so I learn!” pat comes his reply. Dr.Kannan is an alumnus of Madras University Agriculture College (Coimbatore), BHU-IT, and a PhD from Michigan State University.
When asked for his stimulus for the book, he explains, “I credit my early curiosity in plants to my father, who was an avid agriculturalist himself. The science of plant physiology today is not the same as in the 50’s or even 10 years back. The accelerated pace of research has been greatly aided by the device of new instruments, techniques and advancements in the allied fields of biochemistry and biophysics. The discoveries are appearing at a great pace. The objective of this book is to present some of the subjects with descriptions of significant findings of a few eminent plant physiologists.”
Curious about the topics in the book, I ask him, “Nowadays, there has been a surge in many youngsters taking up agriculture and going organic. What are your views?” With poignance, he responds, “Any person taking up agriculture has to be very conscious about soil conservation. Ensure that it is not over-exploited and is fertilized properly. Given the current economic needs, totally going organic may not be feasible, thus there is a need for artificially fertilising the soil. But at the core of all, soil nutrition is very important for sustainability and consistent health of the crops, not only for one cycle but for the cycles to come.”
Dr.Seshadri shows us how he keeps himself occupied, one of them being his articles in various technical and religious journals. Dr Kannan is a resident of Thiruvanmiyur and can be contacted at [email protected].The book is priced at Rs.995 and has been published by Ashish Books, New Delhi. The publisher can be contacted at [email protected].
