Nearly sixty years after she organised the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), botanists and scientists from different disciplines are celebrating the contribution of E.K. Janaki Ammal , the pioneer whose contribution to Indian botanical research remains mostly unknown outside academic circles.
The scientist is credited with putting sweetness in our sugarcane varieties, speaking against the hydro-electric project in Kerala’s Silent Valley and with the phenomenal study of chromosomes of thousands of species of flowering plants titled The Chromosome Atlas of Cultivated Plants, which she co-authored with biologist C.D. Darlington.
“At a time when the country is focussing on educating the girl child, we must not forget scientists like Janaki Ammal who choose a life of scholarship over marriage. She was one of the first women scientists to receive the Padma Shri way back in 1977,” BSI Director Paramajit Singh told The Hindu.