M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) was registered in 1988 as a non-profit Trust. The basic mandate of MSSRF is to impart a pro-nature, pro-poor and pro-women orientation to a job-led economic growth strategy in rural areas through harnessing science and technology for environmentally sustainable and socially equitable development. The Foundation is known for its emphasis on bottom-up participatory approach, which places people before technology.