"The Green Revolution was criticised by social activists on the ground that the high-yield technology involving the use of mineral fertilizers and chemical pesticides is environmentally harmful. Similarly, some economists felt that the new technologies would bypass small and marginal farmers, for although the technologies are scale-neutral, they are not resource-neutral. This led to my coining the term “ever-green revolution,” to emphasise the need to enhance productivity in perpetuity without ecological harm."

"Developing countries can leapfrog several stages in the development process through the application of bio-technology in agriculture"

"Eternal vigilance is the price of food security."

"The right to food has to become the right to good food"

"I followed Swami Vivekananda's teachings when I was young. He said, this life is short, its vanities are transient. He alone lives who lives for others. I think more than any other country, in our country, this is very important today. ‘Others’ also includes family members, because charity begins at home. But if you are an educated person, do something which can help improve the lives and livelihoods of your fellow people. And then towards the latter part of your life, you feel more satisfied that you have one something not only for yourself or for your family, but you have done something which has made a slight difference in the lives of the less privileged."

"So there is a big transformation. Also if you see the average lifespan, which was 28–29 in 1947, is now 64–65. In Kerala it is 74 or so. I am sure soon it will become 80–90. That is partly also because of food, because without nutrition, it is not possible. So we have had a transformation in our economic wellbeing. But that is not spread evenly in society; there are still very poor people, the highly deprived. In my view, the first task of both science and society is to address this issue"

"When you take up lab-to-land transfer, you should know the socio-economic circumstances of the farmer. You should not do experiments with the farmer, because he is already poor. You must be very sure that whatever you are recommending is both economically and ecologically sound. If farm economics and farm ecology go wrong, nothing else can go right in agriculture."

"Let me make it very clear that the days of cheap food are over, just as the days of cheap oil are over"