Woman who sweetened Indian sugarcane.

Every time you savor a sweet sugarcane drink, space a thought to this incredible and brave woman Janaki Ammal, who created sweeter variety of Indian sugarcane. Thereby helping India become chief sugarcane producer and helping millions of farmers sustain a better life

Caste. Race. Gender. Janaki Ammal didn’t win these birth lotteries. She nonetheless rose to become one of India’s most prominent scientists.

Born in backward caste to an illegitimate and mixed-race mother, in 1897 in Thalassery. Janaki knew her prospects in arranged marriage were limited. She therefore focused on fulfilling her intellectual achievement. She was one of the first few women to obtain PhD from University of Michigan.

After her return to India, as a single woman she faced incredulous amount of caste and gender-based discrimination among her male peers, which is why she decided to quit her job and move to London. She joined the John Innes Horticultural Institute as an assistant cytologist (study of structure and function of cells).

Dr. Ammal moved to England during the second world war, when German planers were bombing London. Her colleagues would recount how Dr. Ammal would dive under her bed during the night bombings and continue with the research work the next day after brushing the broken glass off the shelves. Brave at heart she was unfazed adversities.

Following a series of famines including Bengal famine, she returned to India at the request of the Prime Minister to use her knowledge to help increase food production, where she worked on sugarcane, eggplant and medicinal plants.

She is known as one of the prominent botanist and environmentalist. There is herbarium with over 25000 plant species in Jammutawi named after her. Royal Horticultural Society, Wisley named a magnolia in her honor. She also has a gecko species named after her. She was awarded Padma Shri in 1977 by Indian government.