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Prof. Pandurang Vasudeo Sukhatme -

A Statistician Par Excellence
Prem Narain

Professor and Independent Researcher

29278 Glen Oaks Blvd. W.

Farmington Hills MI 48334

Email: narainprem@hotmail.com

On 27th July 2018 we celebrate the 107th birthday of Professor PV SUKHATME. He was born on July 27,
1911 in the village Budh in the district of Satara about 100 miles south of Pune in Maharashtra, India. He
passed away peacefully in his sleep on January 28, 1997 at Pune at the age of 86. His parents were
Vasudeo Hari Sukhatme and Satyabhama Sukhatme. He was the second among three brothers and one
sister, the other two brothers being AV Sukhatme and BV Sukhatme, both of whom were also statisticians
of repute. He was married to Indumati Sukhatme, daughter of SK Deval. They had four children, three
sons and one daughter. His eldest son SP Sukhatme is a former Director of the Indian Institute of
Technology, Bombay. His other two sons and daughter are well settled in USA.

In what follows is given a complete description of his career, work, and contribution to humanity along
with references to his complete list of publications (234 articles and 5 books) during the span of 86 years
that he spent on this planet Earth. His life story described herein is the story of an individual devoted and
dedicated to statistical work as well as its applications to nutrition, health and society. His story is a story
of a life wedded to scientific pursuit of truth and maintenance of the highest standards in scientific
research in spite of odds created by people who could not appreciate his success. It constitutes one of the
most inspiring chapters in the history of the development of sampling for improvement of agricultural
statistics in India and the world during the past several decades. He is also highly credited with bringing
out newer concepts in nutrition and their implementation for policy for which he received international
attention and acclaim. It is no exaggeration to state that he was one of the eminent international leaders of
statistical thought with a worldwide impact of his work.

With all his pre-eminence in the fields of statistics and nutrition and his worldwide reputation, Prof.
Sukhatme was the very embodiment of humility with a helping attitude to one and all, a hall-mark of a
true scientist. He was richly endowed with warm human qualities that endeared him to a large circle of
friends and admirers across the world. He would be fondly remembered not only by the statistical
community but also by all those who happened to come in his contact both in India and abroad.

Education

After completing his school education in Pune, Professor Sukhatme graduated in 1932 from Fergusson
College with Mathematics as the principal subject and Physics as a subsidiary subject. He was awarded
Ph.D. degree in 1936 and D.Sc. degree in 1939 by the University College, London for his work on bi-
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partitional functions under the guidance of Professor R.A. Fisher. He had developed an innovative
method for the practical evaluation of such functions in relation to the theory of distributions which was
greatly appreciated by Professor Fisher. Under the influence of Professors Jerzy Neyman and Egon S
Pearson, he made valuable contributions to the statistical theory of sampling. This work laid solid
foundations for his subsequent pioneering research in the sampling theory of survey and improvement of
agricultural statistics, which ushered in what is appropriately termed as the Sukhatme Era in the
development of agricultural statistics in India.

On his return from London, he had an interview in 1936 with the late Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya,
Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University in search for a job. Although Pandit Ji was satisfied with
his brilliant academic career and agreed to create a Department of Statistics to accommodate him, he
asked him how a Chair in Statistics would help our poor country not necessarily in the immediate future
but in the long run. Prof. Sukhatme did not know how to answer this question and got nervous in the
interview, though Pandit Ji did not press for it. He did not, however, join the University but this question
struck him sufficiently in determining his future career in that he sought to serve agriculture, animal
husbandry, nutrition and public health, medicine and social sciences so that he could definitely see his
way to serve the poor. In particular, on his return to India in 1972 from FAO and associated with the
Maharashtra Association for Cultivation of Science (MACS) on projects dealing with social change, he
succeeded in showing how statistical investigation can be used to make villages livable so that man can
live as human should.

Professional Career

Prof. Sukhatme’s career can be described in four phases: his early years from 1936 to 1940; his work in
the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi from 1940 to 1951; his stay in FAO
Rome from 1951 to 1971; and his association with MACS, Pune from 1972 to 1992.

His first job was as a Statistician in the Institute of Sugar Technology at Kanpur followed by a brief
position as Assistant Professor for Vital Statistics and Epidemiology at the All India Institute of Hygiene
and Public Health at Calcutta during 1939-40. In the latter post, he did an interesting experiment with
students to make them understand the concepts of variations between individuals and within individuals
over time in a language which the medical doctor students could understand. The project which he chose
was that each person, in one group, pricked his finger, every week, to get a white blood cell count by a
haemocytometer to study the fluctuations over time. In another group, he chose to determine the
concentration of sugar in the blood. Yet in another group, he chose blood pressure, under specified
conditions. With such data, he could explain the concepts of calibration and precision in an effective
manner.

The most significant appointment of Prof. Sukhatme was with the ICAR, New Delhi, which he joined in
September 1940 as Statistician. Soon after, he was asked to evaluate the performance of the Etah Goat
Breeding Project headed by Dr. Slater. He critically analyzed the 10 years data collected under the project
and showed, much to the disappointment of Dr. Slater that the increase in the milk yield was not genetic
and, therefore, the project had failed to achieve the purpose for which it was undertaken. This eventually
led to the conviction that agricultural research workers needed education in statistical methods. Several
training courses were, therefore, introduced by Prof. Sukhatme and the activities of the Statistical Branch
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expanded in several directions, particularly in the adoption of random sampling techniques for estimating
the crop areas and yields.

The main effect of Prof. Sukhatme’s first project in ICAR, on the evaluation of the performance of the
Etah Goat Breeding Project headed by Dr. Slater, as already mentioned earlier, was that the complexion
of ICAR began to change gradually. Dr. Slater had left India to go back to his original post in UK and
Vice-Chairman of the ICAR did not want further scrutiny of other projects by Prof. Sukhatme from
statistical angle lest other managers of the projects might leave. Prof. Sukhatme started organizing
training courses and writing text-books. With World War II in full swing, the nature of statistical work
further changed. With Japanese close to Burma, the Government wanted to be kept informed continuously
about the food position in the country, particularly because 1942 Bengal famine had claimed a lot of lives.
Prof. Sukhatme had a difficult task to handle in rushing from one place to another and making enquiries
into the stocks of food as well as initiating sample surveys to determine probable size of the crop in the
field and writing his reports. This meant further expansion of his activities on war footing for which he
was given all facilities including travel by air. Eventually this resulted in popularizing the use of random
sampling technique for estimating crop areas and yields. He could successfully demonstrate to people
how with the use of this technique one can estimate the size of the crop in different provinces within a
very short time of the harvest. What he changed was only the fields to be located for crop-cutting using
random sampling methods, other details remaining as before. That was the only practical way to provide
scientific basis to his inference. In the midst of this work, one fine evening in 1941 he was informed that
his designation was changed from Statistician to Statistical Adviser and his salary scale was upgraded.

However, with this success came the confrontation with Professor PC Mahalanobis. He viewed that
Sukhatme’s approach was too costly, the only way of reducing the cost being the use of random sampling
method evolved in UK and tried by him in states of Bengal and Bihar. Prof. Sukhatme disagreed and
claimed that unless we have a field organization which can watch the crop as it grows, a small plot is
bound to lead to biased estimates as per his results enumerated above. In fact the truth was that Prof.
Mahalanobis wanted that that all statistical work in India should be centralized in his Indian Statistical
Institute at Calcutta regardless of whether it concerned agricultural, medical or other applied areas of
research. This was neither acceptable to Prof. Sukhatme nor to the ICAR.

So rapid was the development of training courses in statistics for research workers, statistical services to
aid them in their work as well as the spread of random sampling methods to estimate crop areas and
yields in the provinces in addition to international recognition that the Statistical Wing of the ICAR had
virtually become an institute by itself. Prof. Sukhatme, therefore desired that, in keeping with the
international stature, the Statistical Branch should be upgraded to an Agricultural Statistics Research
Institute. The Ministry of Agriculture was entirely agreeable to this proposal but was powerless in the
face of opposition from the above. The then Minister of Agriculture, Shri K.M. Munshi sensed that so
long as Prof. Sukhatme headed it, it was most unlikely to be approved. Prof. Sukhatme was advised,
therefore, to leave India to accept a pending offer of the post of Chief, Statistics Branch, FAO, Rome
earlier made to him by the late Mr. Norris E. Dodd, the then Director General of FAO. Prof. Sukhatme
reluctantly took the decision to leave India, a sacrifice which led to the establishment of the Indian
Agricultural Statistics Research Institute (IASRI) in due course of time. His departure was widely noticed
in the press and the general feeling expressed was that the departure of an agricultural statistician of his
eminence was an irreparable loss to the progress of development of agricultural statistics in the country.
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During this period of about 11 years (1940-51), Prof. Sukhatme made lasting contributions in the field of
agricultural and animal husbandry statistics. Dr. Sukhatme along with Dr. V.G. Panse, who succeeded
him as Statistical Advisor, was instrumental in establishing the system of crop estimation surveys in India
based on extensive investigation carried out on the method of crop-cutting experiments on several crops
like cotton, wheat, paddy, etc. With the unstinted help and cooperation of Dr Panse and his co-workers, he
founded the Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics on 3rd January, 1947, with the Hon’ble Dr. Rajendra
Prasad, the then Minister for Agriculture, Government of India, as its President. Not only he nourished
the Society from time to time but was also instrumental in establishing the award of ‘Sankhyiki Bhushan’,
the highest award of the Society, in 1989. He published a book on Sampling theory of Surveys with
Applications in 1954 which was also translated in Spanish and Portugese. Along with Dr. Panse, he
authored a book entitled Statistical Methods for Agricultural Research workers.

The next phase of Dr. Sukhatme’s career was during his assignment as Chief, Statistics Branch and later
on as Director, Statistics Division of the FAO, Rome which he joined in 1951. He remained there till his
retirement in 1971. Under his dynamic leadership, FAO vigorously advocated and promoted the
widespread use of sampling in bringing about improvement in the national system of agricultural statistics
in many countries particularly less developed countries. He drew up extensive programmes of work to
assist countries in the form of regional training institutes to train national experts in sampling theory and
its applications, national workshops to train field staff and conduct yield and diet surveys, and regional
commissions and committees to monitor the progress of the decennial World Censuses of Agriculture and
Surveys. Under the UNTA Programme, he was successful in enlisting the services of leading statisticians
in the world such as J. Neyman (Director of the Far East Training Centre), John Wishart (In-charge of the
Mexico Centre), T.A. Bancroft (Head of the Near East School) and several others. These experts were
assisted by his colleagues in FAO, viz. S.S. Zarkovich from Yugoslavia, S.H. Khamis from Lebanon, W.
Schulte from West Germany and R.D. Narain from India. In addition, F. Yates, D.J. Finney, V.G. Panse
and K. Kishen assisted FAO in developing agricultural research statistics in India and elsewhere. What
was most remarkable was that F. Yates and D.J. Finney, at the invitation of Government of India, built the
old Statistics Branch of ICAR into what is today perhaps the leading Institute for agricultural statistics
research in the world. After his retirement from FAO, Dr. Sukhatme left for USA to work as Regents’
Professor at the University of California, Berkeley and returned to India in January 1972 to rejoin ICAR
as Emeritus Scientist. Subsequently, in 1972, he took over as Honorary Professor of Biometry and Head,
Department of Biometry, MACS, Pune.

HONOURS AND AWARDS

Professor Sukhatme received several prestigious awards and honours in recognition of his services both in
India and abroad. He was the first Indian to receive the Guy Silver Medal of the Royal Statistical Society
in 1963. He received the Hari Om Ashram Trust award of the University Grants Commission in 1983, the
PC Mahalanobis award of the Indian Science Congress Associations in 1994, and the Sankhyiki Bhushan
of the Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics in 1989. He was a Fellow of the American Statistical
Association, and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, Vice-President of the International
Statistical Institute during 1969-70 and President of the International Association of Survey Statisticians
from 1977 to 1979. He was President of the Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics (ISAS) in 1991 and
Executive President of the Society from 1970 till his death. He was a Fellow of the Indian National
Science Academy which awarded him the BD Tilak Lectureship in 1982. He was also a Fellow of the
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Indian Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, India and the National Academy of
Agricultural Sciences which conferred on him the prestigious award of Dr. MS Randhawa Medal
posthumously in 1997. On his 72nd birthday in 1983, the ISAS brought out a Felicitation Volume ‘Impact
of PV Sukhatme on Agricultural Statistics and Nutrition’. This Society published, in its journal, a
Memorial Volume in 1998. The Indian National Science Academy published a ‘Biographical Memoir of
PV Sukhatme’ in 2000 in their series Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Academy. The Journal of
Statistical Planning and Inference, USA brought out a Memorial issue in 2002.

He received PADMA BHUSHAN, the Civilian honour of the Government, from the President of India in
1973 which is a fitting recognition of his world-renowned work in survey sampling and nutrition by the
Government. In his memory, Government of India instituted a National Award in Statistics given to
senior Indian statisticians for their life time contributions.

Interdisciplinary Holistic Approach to Research

As a biometrician Dr. Sukhatme believed in working at the interface of biology and statistics. His
thinking was in line with R.A. Fisher with whom he worked at the Galton laboratory, London. Besides
working in and teaching statistics, Fisher used to maintain a mice laboratory for his experiments on
genetics. Sukhatme too had a drosophila laboratory during his earlier work in ICAR which unfortunately
got closed down due to World War II in 1942. At the MACS he had animal laboratory for mice and
monkeys, where his students worked as well as an open metabolic ward for conducting controlled
nutrition experiments on humans. He did not believe in statistical research with data borrowed from
literature. He always aimed at combining statistical method with observations which enabled him to
illustrate how the probability process works, how far it ties up with concepts in the fields of application
like agriculture, health and nutrition and what departure, if any, is required in the concepts to acquire
wider explanatory significance.

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS
Professor Sukhatme was a multi-faceted personality and made everlasting contributions at the national
and international levels in the field of theoretical statistics as well as statistics applied to agriculture,
biology, nutrition and health, medical and social sciences. He mostly worked on the interfaces between
statistics and the above mentioned fields of applications and, therefore, had to learn quite a bit of the
subject matter of application. In regard to the statistical applications to agriculture, he even suggested that
an agricultural research statistician should have a degree in both statistics and agricultural science. It was
only through inter-disciplinary missions that agricultural statisticians could contribute to realization of
targets of agricultural production for feeding the ever growing population of a country like India. His
significant contributions can broadly be described under two heads:

I Agricultural Statistics

II Nutrition, Health and Society.

I. AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS
I.1 Sample Surveys in Agriculture
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By far the most important contribution of Dr. Sukhatme, while he was in the ICAR and in the wake of
Bengal famine of 1943, was the rapid improvement which he brought about in the estimates of yield of
food crops (particularly wheat and paddy) in the country, which at that time were based on the old official
procedure of annawari estimation and were, consequently, defective, unreliable and subject to unknown
margins of error. Dr. Sukhatme evolved the technique of stratified multistage random sampling for the
conduct of surveys in agriculture in which random cuts of specified size are located in the randomly
selected fields growing the particular crop. During 1943 to 1946, he conducted crop-cutting sample
surveys on wheat in Punjab, Sindh, Uttar Pradesh and North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). In this
experimentation, rectangular cut of size 33.0 ft × 16.5 ft was adopted as against smaller circular cuts of 2
ft to 7 ft radius adopted by Professor PC Mahalanobis, who experimented with jute and rice in Bihar and
West Bengal. The ICAR finally adopted Sukhatme’s method for estimation of average yield of major
crops like rice, jowar, wheat, etc. It subsequently led to a national programme of Crop Estimation Surveys
(CES) and by 1970s India achieved an operational capability to conduct about one and a half lakh crop
cutting experiments covering 30 major crops. By 1980s, this capability had been expanded to conduct
about 3 lakh crop cutting experiments covering 63 crops all over the country.

I.2 Plot Size in Crop Estimation Surveys

The plot size in crop estimation surveys was a bone of contention between Sukhatme and Mahalanobis,
their successors and the institutions founded by them – the Statistical Wing of the ICAR at New Delhi
and Indian Statistical Institute at Calcutta.

While recommending the use of large plots, Sukhatme argued that he had taken cognizance of the fact
that the departmental staff entrusted with the crop cutting work was familiar with the demarcation of large
plots and that the use of small plots would be a serious deviation from their normal routine, which would
inevitably result in biases in their crop cutting work, all the more so as crops in this country are generally
unevenly sown. The fierce methodological debates involving shape and size of crop-cuts for crop
estimation surveys during 1950s and 1960s provided with extensive data and results to assess the
magnitude of over-estimation in the methodology of crop-cuts. It was amply demonstrated that small
plots significantly overestimate the yield, with the degree of over-estimation becoming smaller with larger
plots.

Sukhatme described at length the bias observed in respect of average yield of rice (with husk) in small
size plots. The investigation was carried out in 36 villages distributed equally among the six sub-divisions
of Krishna district in Madras State. In each selected village, three fields were selected at random out of all
the paddy growing fields in the village and within each field, the following plots were marked at random:

(a) a rectangular plot of 50 links × 20 links (area 435.6 sq ft) which was the plot size adopted in official
crop sampling work in Madras;

(b) two circular plots of radius 3 ft each (area 28.3 sq ft); and

(c) two circular plots of radius 2 ft each (area 12.6 sq ft).

In addition, the whole of the remaining field was harvested. The rectangular and circular plots were
marked with the help of necessary equipment in accordance with the standard practices. The field work
was carried out by the local staff of the Department of Agriculture who had been given thorough training
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prior to the commencement of the investigation. The results of the investigation are reproduced in Table 1
below:

Table 1: Average yield of rice (with husk) in lb./acre for plots of different sizes-Paddy survey in
Krishna district (Madras)

Size and Area in sq. ft. No. of Plots Average Yield Standard Error Percentage
shape of plots in lb./acre of the Average Over
Yield in lb./acre Estimation
Whole field - 108 1939.2 107.3 -
2
50×20 (links) 435.60 108 1954.1 105.0 0.8
3 ft (circular) 28.29 216 2025.9 125.8 4.5
2 ft (circular) 12.57 216 2113.2 129.1 9.0
It is seen that while the yield estimate from the official plot size of 50 links × 20 links was in close
agreement with that from harvesting the whole field; those from small plots were overestimates.

I.3 Land Utilization and Crop Acreage Statistics

The agency for the collection of land utilization and crop area statistics has been the patwari agency in the
temporary settled states of the country since ages. In 1949, when the National Sample Survey
Organisation (NSSO) was set up by Professor PC Mahalanobis, a spot check of the patwari statistics of
crop acreage for the year 1949-50 in several states was organized by NSSO, which showed that for cash
crops like sugarcane, linseed, etc., the acreage was underestimated by over 50%, whereas for wheat crop
it was overestimated by 15%. This was rather unexpected and unfair to the patwari system. It prompted
Dr. Sukhatme to organize a sample check in 1949-50 in Lucknow district in collaboration with Dr. K
Kishen. This sample survey revealed that, keeping in view the Land Record Rules prescribed for
recording of acreage under different crops, genuine mistakes in recording crops names by the patwaris
amounted to only 4% of the total. Similar results were obtained from sample checks conducted in other
states and there was thus ample evidence to demonstrate the broad accuracy of the patwari area records.

All along Dr. Sukhatme stressed the imperative need for strengthening the patwari agency in the
temporarily settled states to enable it to discharge its duties efficiently and advocated the setting up of a
similar agency in the permanent settled states of the country. He held the view that adequate and effective
supervision must be exercised over the acreage statistics collected by the patwaris in order to improve
their accuracy and that rationalized supervision of the work on a random sampling basis should also be
undertaken for the purpose by the state and central statistical staff.

I.4 Estimation of Catch of Marine Fish

In 1950, Sukhatme developed the sampling technique for estimating the monthly catch of marine fish
brought to the coast (landing centres) by fishing boats. Sampling was to be done both in time and space
and an objective method of enumeration was to be employed by physical measurement of the sampled
catch. The investigation was very fascinating in the field of sampling theory and practice and influenced
several other countries to go in for this novel method. FAO invited Dr. Panse to visit a number of
countries for advising them on the improvement of fishery statistics of catch. In particular, He assisted the
Governments of the United Arab Republic and Uganda in evolving an appropriate technique for the
purpose.
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I.5 Power of Statistical Modelling

In sample survey theory, Dr Sukhatme made several notable contributions which culminated in his book
on the same subject, as mentioned earlier, which is a standard text-book for students and researchers both
in India and abroad. One aspect which interested him most and which he used in the context of
agricultural as well as longitudinal surveys is that on non-sampling errors. In his words:

”Unless the administrators and the people are convinced that sample surveys have a sound scientific
basis, there is hardly any possibility that sampling method can become a permanent routine in the hands
of the staff available in the countries."

For this purpose he advocated a linear model particularly found suitable for observations made over time.
This is made up of four uncorrelated components as given by

Yijk  xi   j   ij  eijk (1)

where Yijk is the reported value for the ith unit in the sample as by the jth enumerator for the kth occasion, xi
is the true unknown value for the ith unit, j represents the bias for the jth individual in repeated
observations on all the units, ij is the interaction of the jth enumerator with the ith unit and eijk represents
the deviation of the (xi + j + ij) from the reported value.

Since one cannot take more than one observation at a given time, we need to combine the third and fourth
components in equation (1) to give

Yij  xi   j  eij (2)

where it is assumed that eij’s are randomly distributed around zero mean with variance Se2 all i and j.
Under this set up, which is found to be general enough to cover conditions commonly met in surveys, the
expected value of the sample mean ( Yn ) based on a random sample of size n will depend upon how the
individuals are selected for making observations on the selected sample and the way the sample is
distributed amongst them. When the enumerators, m in number, constitute a random sample from an
infinitely large population and the units in the sample are randomly allotted to them, each enumerator
making an equal number of observations and the number of observations made on any unit in the sample
being equal for all the units, the expected value of the sample mean is

E Yn   X N   (3)

where X N is the population mean of true values (there being N units in the population) to be estimated
and  is the population mean of farmer’s/enumerator’s biases. Clearly, unless the i vary in such a
manner that  is zero, the sample mean is not an unbiased estimate of population mean. The first step in
surveys should therefore be to develop a measurement technique which ensures that the bias  is
negligible. The sampling variance of mean is given by
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 N n 2
Var Yn    1 2 1 2
 S x  m S  n Se (4)
 Nn 

where S x2 , S2 and Se2 are the mean square errors for x’s, j’s and random errors eij’s. For infinitely large
N, the above formula becomes

nm 2
Var Yn   n 1S y2    S (5)
 mn 

where S y2  S x2  S2  Se2 , the variance of a single observation.

The sampling variance is, therefore, enhanced due to variability in the biases of the enumerators. The
magnitude of S2 will however depend on the character observed, the technique of measuring it and the
conditions of the survey. In general, if the character is influenced by the judgment of the enumerators, S2
would be considerable. There is, therefore, a great need for adopting the method of physical observation
wherever possible in order that the errors of observation may be under control. The effective role of
sampling for collecting reliable information, therefore, lies in adopting better measurement techniques
and in recruiting better trained and better paid enumerators.

In addition to the role of S2 in non-sampling errors, Dr. Sukhatme advocated its use in measuring a
behavioural change in an individual over time. With a process trait and sustained perturbation of macro
environment, the enumerator interacts with the local component to increase the error variance and
stabilize it. This gives rise to the process simulating autoregressive patterns. This means S2 takes the
form of a non-independent component of inter-enumerator variance. It can then be a valuable statistical
tool to measure change in behavioural traits over time. Not only that, Dr. Sukhatme felt that exploring
interaction in this way would be of greatest social relevance in making villages livable. He tried this
approach in a village project funded by Department of Science and Technology of the Govt. of India and
found that school children do not take too long to realize the potential ahead for future development of the
messages between man and man, man and machine and machine and man. It is this capacity, called
educability, which distinguishes man from other animals and enables him to respond intelligently to the
living conditions for his betterment and that of his community.

I.6 Taichung I Variety of Rice

Dr. Sukhatme was very particular about the use of statistics and the role of statisticians in discovering
truth in the research efforts of scientists working in different fields like agriculture, genetics, nutrition,
health, etc as is borne out by his multifarious research activities. He was equally serious in seeing that due
recognition and award are given to those statisticians who deserve them in unravelling truth. In this regard
the following narration in connection with the work of late Shri T.P. Abraham, who was incidentally his
student, is worth quoting.

High yielding varieties of rice are generally regarded as the result of work of International Rice Research
Institute in Manila. The technique used in selection is progeny row trials in successive years with seeds
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from selected varieties often numbering 200 and more. The varieties not doing well are culled out until a
few high yielding varieties are left for competitive trials over different areas in the country. At the Central
Rice Research Institute (CRRI), Cuttack, Indo-Japanica crosses of rice were being observed since early
1950’s, the scheme being sponsored by FAO. Among these varieties, there was a short variety with yield
comparable to the best. Late Shri T.P. Abraham, then Statistician at CRRI, conducted statistical analysis
of the yield and the number of tillers per plant in the rows under observation and showed that the short
variety observed merited inclusion in the regular progeny row trial. However, his advice was ignored and
the shorter variety was rejected from further trial. In the opinion of the then Director, CRRI, it was too
short and the number of tillers per plant too many. Dr. Sukhatme then wrote to the Director urging him to
include the variety identified by Shri Abraham but it didn’t click. Dr. Sukhatme then advised Shri
Abraham to dry the seeds of this dwarf variety, seal it in the presence of responsible officers in three
different bags and keep it for further examination at a later suitable date. It is now well known that the
dwarf high yielding variety of rice was imported from Manila by Shri Subramaniam, the then Minister of
Food and Agriculture in 1965. The seeds sealed by Shri Abraham were opened and were identified to be
the same variety which was imported. This showed that if the statistician's advice at the CRRI had been
heeded to, the green revolution would have been ushered in the country at least 10 years earlier. Dr.
Sukhatme was very keen that such an original contribution of late Shri T.P. Abraham must not be left
unrecognized. He was amply pleased when the Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics honoured late Shri
Abraham by conferring on him the award of ‘Sankhyiki Bhushan’ posthumously in 1989.

I.7 World Census of Agriculture

The 1960 World Census of Agriculture gave a significant impetus to the movement for improvement of
current agricultural statistics and for collection of basic agricultural statistics urgently required by the
developing countries in the formulation of their development plans. Sukhatme made significant
contributions to the programme and progress of this census. In this work he received valuable help from
V.G. Panse, who worked for two years (1960 and 1961) as Regional Advisor for Agricultural Census in
Asia and the Far East. Both Sukhatme and Panse, while giving due importance to complete enumeration,
were of the view that sampling has a vital role to play in an agricultural census and can be profitably used
for enlarging the scope of the census at a reduced cost. However, what needs very careful consideration is
what particular items in an agricultural census require the use of sampling for collecting information on
them with a high degree of accuracy or, if necessary, by objective methods of estimation. These ideas
enabled Sukhatme and Panse to bring about marked improvement in the programme of the agricultural
census and its implementation. Sukhatme introduced further improvements in the programme of the 1970
World Census of Agriculture and in the quality of mass of data collected under it. As in the 1960 Census,
FAO organized, under his direction and supervision, a large number of training centres at the national,
regional and international levels, where Dr. Sukhatme’s book on the sampling theory of surveys was
extensively used. These training centres were of immense utility in ensuring efficient implementation of
the programmes of these censuses and improving the accuracy of the huge mass of data collected under
them in respect of both current and basic agricultural statistics of the various countries.

II. NUTRITION, HEALTH AND SOCIETY

The most important outcome of Sukhatme’s deliberations in the fields of nutrition, health, medicine and
society is the demonstration of how the science of statistics can be of great assistance in understanding the
 11

various concepts involved and in helping thereby to tackle serious and important issues like malnutrition,
undernutrition, health, epidemiology and social action. In regard to nutrition, according to Dr. Sukhatme:

‘Nutrition not only covers a study of diet in relation to man but also a study of man in relation to diet.
Quite naturally a study of nutrition problem involved a large number of variables and their inter-
relationships and lands itself admirably to the treatment of statistical methods.’

He questioned the validity of the methods being used in the above mentioned disciplines for improving
the current situation and gave newer concepts on various issues. It is imperative that with such efforts,
one finds a lot of opposition and Dr. Sukhatme was no exception. Nevertheless, attempt would be made to
describe some of his challenges in the following paragraphs; such opposition, though very critical
initially, diffused subsequently and won over, for him, several admirers and appreciators.

II.1 World’s Hunger and Future Needs in Food Supplies

During 1960 when Dr. Sukhatme was in FAO, as Director of its Statistics Division, he was often required
to scrutinize the statements of hunger issued by the United Nations. At that time, in a symposium ‘How to
avert hunger’ organized at Cardiff (England) by the British Association for the Advancement of Science,
Sir Norman Wright, Deputy Director General of FAO presented a paper, which indicated that as many as
two-third of the world was hungry and malnourished. He was, however, challenged by Dr. Colin Clark
who characterized his dimensions of hunger as chaotic and confusing, with little factual basis to support
them. On returning back to Rome, Sir Norman gave the problem to Professor Sukhatme to quantify it.
Professor Sukhatme’s assessment turned out to be as small as 20 per cent of the world's population being
hungry. Since Sukhatme’s estimate differed widely from the estimate of the Nutrition Division, FAO that
two-third of the world’s population was hungry and malnourished, he was invited to present his findings
at a joint meeting of Royal Statistical Society and Nutritional Society of Great Britain. He did so on May
27, 1961 and he came out with flying colors. His views were finally accepted by the FAO. Subsequently
he was awarded the prestigious Guy Silver Medal by the Royal Statistical Society for this paper on
World’s hunger. He was the first Indian to receive this honour.

For estimating the proportion of people who are hungry, it is necessary to consider a bivariate frequency
distribution f(x, y) for intake (x) and requirement (y), considered over a long enough period of time and to
evaluate the expression

u   f ( x, y)dxdy (6)
x y

This indicates that food deficiency expressed in terms of calories or other materials is, in effect, a
multivariate rather than an univariate concept. The evaluation of this expression is, however, difficult
since we do not know f(x, y). Data are generally available on calorie intake distribution g(x) of households
on a consumer unit basis and on the range of variation to be expected in caloric requirements of healthy
adults of 20-30 years in the population typical of reference mean. Assuming independence between intake
per consumer unit of a household (x) and requirement of a household on consumer unit basis (y), the
incidence of undernutrition can be approximated as

u   g ( x)dx; x  C  3 y (7)
 12

where C is the requirement of a reference mean in the population and y is the standard deviation of y on
a consumer unit basis. With this approximation and using all available data, the incidence of hunger was
estimated as 20%. Subsequently, in 1982, the relation (7) was interpreted as having come from a process
view of nutrition in which the role of ‘intra-individual’ variation was emphasized.

II.2 Protein Gap

In 1966, FAO published its assessment of the incidence of protein malnutrition. It indicated that as many
as one-third of the children suffer from protein malnutrition. It led to the belief that the nutritional
problem in the developing countries is essentially lack of good quality protein in the diets of people. The
strategy of producing semi-conventional cheap protein-rich foods and appropriate feeding programmes
for the same, therefore, gained momentum. In this strategy it was conveniently assumed that one should
increase the protein intake without bothering about whether diets are having sufficient energy or not. A
bi-variate analysis of available data on protein and calorie intake for countries in Asia, particularly India,
conducted earlier by Sukhatme, however, revealed that when diet is adequate in energy, the protein intake
is usually satisfactory. Successive studies of Gopalan (1968) and Miller and Pyne (1969) confirmed such
findings showing thereby the lead that statistical methods could take in a nutrition problem. Later on
FAO, in 1971, also recognized the validity of these findings.

The available Indian data on protein and calorie intake compared with the requirements given by FAO
indicated that the calorie supply was short of the needs by about 10 per cent but the protein supply
exceeded the average requirements by over 60 per cent and the recommended allowance by 40 per cent.
When classified by expenditure, such data showed that calorie consumption increased rapidly with rise in
income and protein supply was very unevenly distributed. Majority of the people not having adequate
protein did not get adequate calories from their diets. By contrast, in a developed country like USA, there
was no insufficiency of food even in the poorest classes and intakes were always higher than average
requirements. For estimating the incidence of protein malnutrition, such classification of data is not
sufficient. Sukhatme argued that the diets need be classified in a 2 × 2 contingency table (Table 2) as
shown below where (a), (b), (c) and (d) denote the proportion of diets in the respective cells.

Table 2: Contingency table for protein vs. calories

Calories Protein
Deficient Not Deficient
Deficient (a) (b)
Not Deficient (c) (d)

The cases (a) and (c) will lead to protein deficiency but the case (b) though not deficient in protein will
also lead to protein deficiency because it does not have the calories needed for the synthesis of the protein
in the amounts needed by man. The incidence of protein deficiency (I) is then given by

I = (a) + (b) + (c) (8)

Based on data of food consumption surveys collected from a representative sample of 862 households in
Maharashtra, Sukhatme found that about 32 per cent of the diets were calorie deficient, 28 per cent were
protein deficient and as many as 23 per cent were deficient in both protein and calories. A vast majority of
 13

protein deficient households were thus also calorie deficient. It led to the conclusion that when diet is
adequate in energy, the protein intake is usually satisfactory. Intricate inter-relationship between protein
and calorie intake showed that protein deficiency is, for the most part, the indirect result of a low total
energy intake. These findings of Sukhatme were confirmed by other workers and finally accepted by the
FAO.

II.3 Process View of Nutrition

Sukhatme along with Sheldon Margen of the Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of
California, Berkeley developed, in 1978, the concept of protein requirements of individuals and indicated
the method by which it can be extended to those of populations. According to the joint FAO / WHO Ad-
hoc Expert Committee on Energy and Protein Requirements, the safe level of protein intake is defined as
the average requirement plus twice the standard deviation. According to them an individual eating below
this level, though not malnourished, runs the risk of developing protein deficiency and this risk increases
as the intake falls below the safe level. Several models based on normal bi-variate distribution of intake
and requirements were postulated for calculating the proportion of population below the safe level. All
along it was assumed that the requirements remain constant in an individual. Sukhatme’s approach was to
take into account the intra-individual variability in requirement, not as a random noise due to
measurement error but in a manner represented by an auto-regressive (AR) stochastic process.

When we have time series data on daily N-balance in man maintaining body weight on fixed intake and
on the assumption that energy intake is not a limiting factor in the diet, we can represent the series as

wt  wt 1  et (9)

where wt is the balance on the t-th day,  is the serial correlation coefficient of order one between wt and
wt-1 and et is a random variable with mean zero and variance  e2 . This model represents an auto-
regressive Markov process, comprising of two components, one a short-term component arising from the
current value of the process at the previous time point and the other a long-term component in the form of
errors of measurement. In such a process, the errors get incorporated into the motion of the process to
determine the balance on any given day and are not cancelled out as they would do in a purely random

process with  = 0. The expected value of wt is found to be zero and the variance of wt is  e2 1   2 
1

which is independent of t and, therefore, remains constant. Such a process is known as stationary
stochastic process. The observed value of balance on any given day will then be distributed around mean

zero within limits  2 e 1   2 
1 / 2
, which are known as homeostatic limits.

Using daily data on N-balance on fixed intake from experiments conducted at the Department of
Nutritional Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, USA, it was found that for intakes in the range
of 3.5 to 12.0 gms N/day, the day to day N-balances were not random but were serially correlated in an
auto-regressive process as described above. Like energy balance, the daily N-balance is regulated
according to a probabilistic generating mechanism constant over time. At very high or negligible N-
intake, this regulation is shown to break down i.e. homeostasis can no longer be maintained. At high
levels of protein, metabolism is altered, becoming more rapid than before, body weight increases, and the
frequency and amplitude of oscillations become larger and irregular. At low levels of protein, body
 14

weight decreases, and the frequency and amplitude of the oscillations increase and decrease respectively.
In either case, the organism is under stress. It was shown that the magnitude of stationary variance is
comparable to the variation between individuals. This was found to hold true even when the daily
requirement was averaged over several days. Sukhatme and Margen concluded:

“Protein deficiency may be defined as a failure of the process to be in statistical control, and not defined
in the manner that assumes requirements to be fixed whereby if an individual consumes protein below this
level, he suffers from protein deficiency”.

II.4 Genetic Theory of Behavioural Traits

We normally regard, for metric traits in plants and animals, the phenotypic values as composed of
genotypic and environmental components independent of each other but for behavioural traits it is not so
as investigations by Dr. Sukhatme revealed. The data on healthy active children analyzed by him showed
that children grow at rates which are outside the 90th and 10th percentiles of the median weight. If a child
showed growth increment that is too high in one time interval, it will have a low rate of growth in the next
interval or interval thereafter. The analysis of variance of growth increments expressed as percentile of
the observed median for the respective intervals are shown in Table 3 and 4 below for boys and girls.

Table 3: ANOVA of Growth Increments in Boys from 0 to 36 months (gms/quarter)

Source DF SS MS Estimated True Variance

Between Children 10 351.1 35.1 2.3
Within Children 121 968.8 8.0 8.0

Table 4: ANOVA of Growth Increments in Girls from 0 to 36 months (gms/quarter)

Source DF SS MS Estimated True Variance

Between Children 8 191.5 24.3 1.6
Within Children 99 525.5 5.2 5.2

It is seen that the intra-individual variation in children, as they grow, is over three to four times as large as
the estimated true variance between them. The children seem to change their paths of development over a
fairly wide range depending upon the location in time and the momentum they receive from the
environment in which they grow. The relationship between body weight and intake does not seem to be
linear that we assume it to be but is variable as the child grows. This implies that a fixed intake of say 300
calories cannot be expected to produce the same change in body weight in all individuals even when they
are similar, nor over time in the same individual. Calories like nutrients are used with increasing
inefficiency as the intake increases. It is however not surprising as we do observe that on similar intakes
and similar levels of activity some of us gain in weight and others do not. Such evidence is also brought
out from the ANOVA given in above tables. The mean square between individuals say Sb2 is significantly
larger than that within subjects say S w2 so that

 
E Sb2  n b2   w2 (10)
 15

 
E Sw2   w2 (11)

which shows that the true variance (  b2 ) was significantly larger than zero. In other words, if we write
the ANOVA model as

yij    bi  eij (12)

then bi cannot be considered any more as a random effect peculiar to the ith individual with variance  b2
but is a non-random effect governed by an hierarchical form of variation. This is not, however, to suggest
that the entire variation between subjects is genetic (VG) and is represented by  b2 . Part of it will arise
from common environmental effects permanently associated with individual’s development within the
intra-uterine and external environment experienced by him. This means  b2 will be of the form

 b2  VG  VEG (13)

On the other hand the component  w2 will be due to purely environmental effects varying from day to day
for any given individual. If we denote it by VES , the variance of the mean will be given by

 b2  n1 w2  VG  VEG  n1VES (14)

Alternatively, we can write this expression for mean as


VP R  n 1 (1  R)  (15)

where VP is total phenotypic variance (VG + VEG + VES) with R representing the fraction of phenotypic
variability due to genetic and environmental causes given by

R = (VG + VEG) / VP . (16)

In quantitative genetics literature R is called the repeatability of the trait that sets an upper limit to the
heritability of the trait responsible for the genetic improvement.

The above considerations are valid only if the within variance component VES is purely environmental.
But Edholm’s data as well as Sukhatme’s data from his metabolic laboratory at the MACS show that this
component does not remain purely environmental as the individual advances in time under a sustained
change in the common external environment. Instead we find that in a healthy living system, the week to
week variation is significantly larger than the within week variance component in the same individual
indicating that the day-to-day observations are serially correlated. This is the reason why intra-individual
variation remains wide and cannot be reduced by averaging to the extent it would be if the genetico-
physiological process of energy metabolism had remained the same each day. Evidently the additional
variation arises from interaction between genetic entities possessed by the individual and the micro-
environment provided by the food intake on different days. If we denote this component by VGES, we can
write equation (14) as
 16

VP ( n)  VG  VEG  n 1VES  VGES (17)

or simply as VG + VEG + VGES, when n approaches infinity. It is on the basis of such data and interpretation
that Sukhatme along with Prem Narain postulated a model involving serially correlated errors as

Yit    bi  wit (18)

where

wit  wi (t 1)  eit* , (19)

 being the serial correlation of order one and * indicates that we are dealing with the correlated case and
not the uncorrelated case with which we started. This model implies that a part of variability in energy
balance on a given day is explained by value on the preceding day and variability not thus accounted is
explained by the measurement errors eit* .

If r denotes the average correlation between observations of a given individual in such a model, then

r
 n  m m
 ( n  m)

= 2(n  1)(1   )
1
1  (1   )n
n 1
(1   )1  (20)

where summation  is over m = 1 to (n‒1). The variance of the estimated mean is


 w*2 r  n1 (1  r ) 

= n1 w*2 (1   )(1   )1  2 (1   n )n1 (1   )2 .  (21)

When  is zero we have the familiar result for the variance of the estimated mean as n 1 w2 , dropping the
*. Now introducing the inter-individual variability  b2 based on k subjects, we note that  b2 will measure
the variance of the true mean of the individual based on an infinitely large sequence of days. This
variability will contain the genetic component as well as a component due to permanent environmental
causes and would not be affected by the presence of the serial correlation. It follows that the total variance
can now be expressed as

VP*   b2   w*2 (22)

When we consider a finite number n of the serially correlated days, the variance of the estimated mean
can be written approximately as


VP*( n)  VG  VEG  n 1 w*2 (1   )(1   ) 1  2 (1   n )n 1 (1   ) 2  (23)
 17

We are not expressing  w*2 in terms of the environmental component VES as we did for  w2 since it is this
variability which is affected by the interaction component in the correlated case. The variance given by
(23) would become that in (14) with  = 0.

This enhanced variability has been shown to be accounted for by invoking VGES arising from the
interaction between individual genotype and micro-environment provided by day to day food intake. We
have also seen that such a component also results in exhibiting a serial correlation of the Markov process.
Equating the increase shown by (17) and (23) we have from (23)


VP*( n)  VG  VEG   w*2 r  n 1 (1  r ) (24)

Comparing it with (17) we find

r  w*2  VGES and (1  r ) w*2  VES (25)

showing that

 w*2  VES  VGES   w2  VGES (26)

Clearly in the correlated case the intra-individual variability is enhanced by the addition of non-
independent component VGES. It is the presence of this component which explains the repeatability in the
correlated case and gives the whole phenomenon a homeostatic character.

We have here a case much like that of the switch-on and switch-off model in E.coli introduced by F.
Jacob and J. Monod who shared Noble Prize for physiology and medicine in 1965. This organism has a
battery of three neighbouring genes which are ordinarily inactive, but are known to code for protein  -
galactosidase when it uses lactose to meet its energy needs. In other words, the organism is known to
switch its genes into action to code for enzymes it needs whenever it is confronted with a sustained
change in its environment. This is precisely what enables a man to indulge in food under conditions of
affluence, without being overweight. Experiments conducted in Sukhatme’s laboratory confirmed that
such men dissipate heat when the body is overheated, as long as the excess intake is within limits of the
homeostatic range. The same plasticity serves the poor in protecting them against reduction of work
output and body mass over sizeable range. Thus in regard to food, intake is not determined by appetite
alone but also by the ability to digest the food and ability to convert the absorbed nutrients into energy for
the purpose of the activity in which an individual is engaged. The more one eats above the lower limit of
the range of homeostasis, the more would undoubtedly be the nutrient intake, but more would also be the
chance that he/she would impair his digestive efficiency; it is even possible that some of the absorbed
nutrients may find their way not for storage of energy for muscular work or for building up immunity, but
instead for deposition of fat. We cannot, therefore, consider a person undernourished unless he/she eats
outside the limit of the homeostatic range. And even outside the homeostatic range, he/she need not
necessarily be under energy stress as judged by intake per kg of body weight, even though his/her body
weight and intake may be smaller than those of the reference individual, indicating effect of long term
genetic adaptation. In practice, however, given adequate incentive, he/she is more than found to make up
for it by working for longer hours. He/she would not survive if he/she did otherwise.
 18

If we do not interpret variation over time in behavioural traits in this manner, it would tantamount to
assuming that the variance of the observed trait at the phenotypic level (VP) is simply the sum of the
variances of the genotypic (VG) and environmental (VE) components as

VP = VG + VE (27)

when in actual fact G and E synergistically interact, as we saw above, to account for the observed
variability. In addition, to assume that VE is negligible relative to VP as was implied in the writings of
Wilson and his colleagues in the fifties is to overstate the influence of genetic determinism. Equally, at
the other extreme viz. VG being negligible relative to VP, it means overstating the influence of
environment and culture in shaping the behavior of man as Pavlov’s work appeared to suggest. The
hypothesis of the non independent nature of the intra-individual variability is of fundamental importance
in understanding phenomenon not only in a genetic context as shown above but also in biology in general
as well as social sciences and health. For instance, the interactions between diet and disease are intensive
and continuous. They arise from the fact that each individual constitutes a dynamic bio-system which is
self-replicating, constantly changing, and potentially mutable. The bio-system is dependent upon (a)
human and physical force, a world I as the philosopher Karl Popper calls it, and (b) interplay between
mind and brain, as a world II in Popper’s terminology so that disturbances at local levels lead to stress at
higher perturbation of common external environment that make it possible for human body to maintain
itself within a reasonable range of fluctuations by homeostatic auto-regulatory feed-back mechanism.
Health is more than absence of disease; health is about human balance; good health corresponds to
dynamic stability, normal function and homeostatic control while ill health corresponds to a state of
instability, loss of function and failure of self regulation. Health depends upon a sustained external
environment, a balanced internal environment and corresponding absence of significant dietary or disease
insult.

II.5 Indira Community Kitchen at Pune

Sukhatme also experimented on the philosophical question of how the poor can help the poor and how
can they be self-reliant and altruistic at the same time. One of the reasons, why poor have remained poor
despite planned efforts to alleviate poverty is the exaggerated assessment of the problem and failure to
introduce a proper methodology for identifying the malnourished. A man cannot be taken as
malnourished simply because he eats less than the average energy requirements, since such a requirement
is dynamic and self-regulated over a wide range. The second reason is that the affluent people in our
country eat in excess of their real needs and develop a life style akin to the western people. This creates
relative scarcity and pushes up the prices of primary foods, which is disadvantageous to the poor. A poor
person spends an increasingly larger part of his meager income on the food. Under such situations, the
only way the poor can ever get justice is to organize themselves in the form of small communities on the
model of Indira Community Kitchen at Pune. This model illustrates how a band of 300 employees drawn
from the poorest section of the population prepare traditional food articles (chapati, rice, bhakhari, dal,
vegetables, sweets) in the Kitchen and sell them through many centres at half the market prices. The
whole operation of the Kitchen has a human touch and is carried out with the same efficiency as that of an
assembly line in a factory. The Kitchen has illustrated how labour intensive technology can be used in
offering guaranteed employment at market wage rate of about Rs 14 to 15 per day, on an average, keeping
the marginal productivity sufficiently positive. Besides this, the selling price includes a margin of profit
 19

of 1 to 2 per cent set aside for future investment for further growth and for expanding the services to meet
the needs of the poor. The kitchen is self-sufficient and does not ask for any monetary aid or donations or
even subsidies from the Government. Sukhatme demonstrated convincingly how development of newer
concepts in nutrition can be helpful to generate the philosophy that it is only poor who can help
themselves. In his opinion, the process view of nutrition enables one to assure the poor that they can enjoy
health and vigour and carry out the desired activities on an intake in the lower range of homeostasis and
thereby dissuade them from chasing after the moon in the higher range, as the affluent do. It is very
gratifying to note that such a process view of nutrition finds mention in our scriptures, the Vedas and the
Gita. Particularly in the latter, it is clearly stated that to be healthy and active, requires that man should eat
at levels in the lower range of homeostasis. For the same reason, these scriptures advise people to use
restraint not only in eating but also in their entire life style by yoga practicing

II.6 An Approach to Rural Development

In 1983, the Indian National Science Academy awarded the BD Tilak Memorial Lecture to Professor
Sukhatme for his outstanding contribution to rural economy and life through innovation and effective
application of science and technology. In his lecture, delivered on this occasion at Lady Irwin College,
New Delhi, Professor Sukhatme brought out the importance of the interaction between man and his
surroundings for development. In his view, man is not only a product of heredity but is also determined
by biological and social environment. It is the flexibility arising from the interaction between the brain
and the surroundings that gives man the power to do conscious thinking and enables him to convert his
life style in keeping with values on the one hand and science, technology and resources, on the other. The
approach to rural development, according to him, should, therefore, not be limited to providing amenities
in rural areas, but should be aimed at appropriate social transformation of rural people who constantly
interact with their surroundings to develop a way of life of their own.

HIS LATER YEARS

In his later years Dr Sukhatme continued to take part in conferences and committee meetings in India as
well as visiting his sons and daughter in USA. He, however, devoted a lot of his time in attempting to
procure a direct whole Human Body Calorimeter (HC) to test the validity of the Sukhatme-Margen
hypothesis viz.

At low calorie intake levels, stored energy in the body is used with greater metabolic efficiency and that
the metabolic efficiency decreases as the intake increases above the homeostatic range.

He was influenced by one such HC of Prof. Lars Garby at the University of Odense, Denmark which was
highly sophisticated monitoring equipment for nutrition experiments on humans. With the help of Prof.
Garby and his consultant Dr. Jacobson he developed technical maps and other guidelines for architectural
and air conditioning system for the consideration of the Department of Science and Technology of the
Government of India who were to fund his project. However he was advised to use a bigger size indirect
calorimeter of St. John’s Hospital at Bangalore under Dr. Shetty. But he found that such a calorimeter
would not meet his purpose. Though an experimental subject can spend a longer time in the chamber but
the observations would not refer to 24 hour energy expenditure but only a part thereof. Indirect HC would
not give observations on daily energy balance that is needed to establish the stochastic stable variation
and its implication. Also Dr Sukhatme needed a calorimeter with ability to separate the dissipated heat
 20

generated due to an increasingly large part of the energy expenditure occurring when the change in intake
exceeds the homeostatic range from the rest of the energy expenditure. The upshot of all these and related
efforts was that Dr. Sukhatme could not fulfill his mission to test the validity of the Sukhatme-Margen
hypothesis though it stands out on its own as a practical proposition for everyone to experience.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The material on life history of Professor Sukhatme presented in this article is drawn from several sources
particularly, the Journal of the Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics (1984), the book Glimpses of
India’s Statistical Heritage (1992), and Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Indian National Science
Academy, New Delhi (2000) which is duly acknowledged. My thanks also go to Professor VK Gupta,
Former National Professor at the Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute, New Delhi for
compiling the complete list of his publications with great care. The list is developed in a manner that
Professor Sukhatme is shown as the first author in most of the publications. It is possible that in
publications with co-authors, the order of the authors could be different. This is just for convenience
without intending any offence to the authors.

PUBLICATIONS
1. Sukhatme, P.V. (1935). Contribution to the theory of the representative method. Supplement to the
Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 2(2), 253-268.
2. Sukhatme, P.V. (1935). A contribution to the problem of two samples. Proceedings of the Indian
Academy of Sciences, A2(6), 584-604.
3. Sukhatme, P.V. (1935). Discussion on the paper “Statistical problems in Agricultural
Experimentation” by J. Neyman, K. Iwaszkiewicz and St. Kolodziesczyk. Supplement to the
Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 2(2), 166-169.
4. Sukhatme, P.V. (1936). An illustration of the use of x2 technique of analysis of meteorological data.
Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 6, 1292-1298.
5. Sukhatme, P.V. (1936). The problem of k samples for Poisson population. National Academy of
Sciences, India, 3, 297-305.
6. Sukhatme, P.V. (1936). Tests of significance for samples of the x2-population with two degrees of
freedom. Annals of Eugenics, 8, 52-56.
7. Sukhatme, P.V. (1936). On Fisher and Behrens test of Significance for the difference in means of
two normal samples. Sankhya, 4, 39-48.
8. Sukhatme, P. V. (1937). Serial experiments. Current Science, 5, 592-593.
9. Sukhatme, P.V. (1937). On the analysis of k-samples from exponential population with special
reference to the problem of random intervals. Statistical Research Memoirs, 1, 94-112.
10. Sukhatme, P.V. (1937). Tests for significance for sample of the x2 – population with two degrees of
freedom. Annals of Eugenics, 8(1), 52-56.
11. Sukhatme, P.V. (1938). On bi-partitional functions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
Society of London - Mathematical and Physical Sciences, A 237 (780), 375-409.
12. Sukhatme, P.V. (1938). On the distribution of x2 in samples of the Poisson series. Supplement to
the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 5(1), 75-79.
13. Sukhatme, P.V. (1938). On Fisher's combinatorial methods giving moments and cumulants of the
distributions of k-statistics. Sankhya, 4(1), 53-64.
14. Sukhatme, P.V. (1938). Standardization in industry. Sankhya, 4(1), 256-257.
 21

15. Sukhatme, P.V. (1938). An application of the bi-partitional function Hg(P, Q) in the enumeration
of different samples from finite population. Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, A8(1),
8-11.
16. Sukhatme, P.V. (1940). Some aspects of Biometry. Science and Culture, 6, 233-238.
17. Sukhatme, P.V. (1941). Economics of manuring. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 11, 325-
337.
18. Sukhatme, P.V. (1942). On Bernstein's improved method of estimating blood-group gene
frequencies. Sankhya, 6(1), 85-92.
19. Sukhatme, P.V. and Panse, V.G. (1943). Size of experiments for testing seed or vaccines.
Indian Journal of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, 13, 75.
20. Sukhatme, P.V. (1944). Note on the method of calculating sire index for milk production in
cattle. Indian Journal of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, 14, 114-123.
21. Sukhatme, P.V. (1944). Statistical study of breeding experiment with goats. Indian Journal of
Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, 14.
22. Sukhatme, P.V. (1944). Moments and products moments of moment-statistics for samples of the
finite and infinite populations. Sankhya, 6(4), 363-382.
23. Sukhatme, P.V. (1944). Crop-cutting survey of wheat in the Punjab. Nature, 154, 299.
24. Sukhatme, P.V. (1945). An interim report on the crop-cutting survey for estimating the out turn of
wheat in the Punjab (1943-44). Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, B21(6), 328-341.
25. Sukhatme, P.V. (1945). Random sampling for estimating rice yield in Madras Province. The
Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 15, 308-318.
26. Sukhatme, P.V. (1945). Report on the scheme for crop-cutting technique, Bihar crop survey-
Paddy 1945. Imperial Council of Agricultural Research, 26, 1-17.
27. Sukhatme, P.V. (1945). Report on random sample survey for estimating the out-turn of wheat in
Sind 1944-1945. Imperial Council of Agricultural Research, 1-44.
28. Sukhatme, P.V., Kadam B.S. and Bhat N.R. (1946). Random sampling for estimating rice yield in
Kolaba, Bombay. Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, B23(4), 194-209.
29. Sukhatme, P.V. (1946). Bias in the use of small-size plots in sample surveys for yield. Nature,
157(3993), 630.
30. Sukhatme, P.V. (1946). Size of sampling unit in yield surveys. Nature, 158, 345.
31. Sukhatme, P.V. (1946). Report on crop-cutting experimental survey for estimating the out-turn of
Wheat, U.P., 1943-44. Imperial Council of Agricultural Research.
32. Sukhatme, P.V. (1946). Report on the crop-cutting survey by the random sampling method for
estimating the out-turn of paddy in the United Provinces 1945- 46, Indian Council of Agricultural
Research, Government of India Press, Simla, 1-86.
33. Sukhatme, P.V. and Kishen, K. (1946). Report on the 3rd random sample survey for estimating the
out-turn of wheat in the United Provinces, 1945-46.
34. Sukhatme, P.V. (1947). The problem of plot size in large-scale yield surveys. Journal of the
American Statistical Association, 42(238), 297-310.
35. Sukhatme, P.V. (1947). Use of small size plots in yield surveys. Nature, 160, 542.
36. Sukhatme, P.V. (1947). Report on scheme for crop-cutting experiments for comparing large
and small-size plots. Moradabad District, United Provinces, 1944-45. Superintendent Printing and
Stationary, United Provinces, India, 1-15.
37. Sukhatme, P.V. (1947). Report on random sample survey for estimating the outturn of paddy in
central provinces and Berar, 1945-46. Imperial Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi.
38. Sukhatme, P.V. (1947). Report on a random sample survey for estimating the outturn of paddy in
Madras, 1945-46. Imperial Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi.
39. Sukhatme, P.V. and Koshal, R.S. (1947). Report on scheme for crop cutting experimental survey
on paddy in the Bombay Province, 1945-46. Imperial Council of Agricultural Research, New
Delhi.
 22

40. Sukhatme, P.V. (1947). Indian Council of Agricultural Research Report on the crop cutting survey
by the random sampling method for estimating the out-turn of wheat in Sind, 1945-46. Government
of India Press.
41. Sukhatme, P.V. (1946). Indian Council of Agricultural Research Report on the crop cutting survey
by the random sampling method for estimating the out-turn of wheat in the central provinces
and Berar 1946. Printed in India, Shimla, 1-46.
42. Sukhatme, P.V. (1947). Indian Council of Agricultural Research report on the crop cutting survey
by the random sampling method for estimating the out-turn of wheat in Central
Provinces and Berar, Government of India.
43. Sukhatme, P.V. (1947). Indian Council of Agricultural Research Report on the crop cutting survey
by the random sampling method for estimating the out-turn of rice in the Central Provinces and
Berar, 1947-48, Government of India.
44. Sukhatme, P.V. and Panse, V.G.(1948). Crop surveys in India-I. Journal of the Indian Society of
Agricultural Statistics, 1, 34-58.
45. Sukhatme, P.V., Pendharkar, V.G. and Sankaran, A.N. (1948). A statistical study in the
composition of milk. Miscellaneous Bulletin No. 61, Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
46. Sukhatme, P.V., Prabhu, S.S. and Amble, V.N. (1948). On a method of estimating nutrient
requirements in metabolism studies on animals. Journal of the Indian Society of Agricultural
Statistics, 1, 117-136.
47. Sukhatme, P.V. (1948). Experimental survey for estimating the outturn of wheat, Punjab, 1943-
44. Government of India Press, Calcutta, 1-68.
48. Sukhatme, P.V. and Aggarwal, A.P. (1949). Report on random sample surveys for estimating yield
of wheat in Delhi Province. Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
49. Sukhatme, P.V. (1950). Efficiency of sub-sampling designs in yield surveys. Journal of the Indian
Society of Agricultural Statistics, 2, 212-228.
50. Sukhatme, P.V. (1950). Sample surveys in agriculture. Proceedings of the 37th Indian Science
Congress, Part II: Presidential Address, Section 2: Statistics, 51-73.
51. Sukhatme, P.V. (1950). 1950 Report on the 2nd random sample survey for estimating the outturn
of paddy in United Provinces, 1946-47, Parts I & II, Allahabad.
52. Sukhatme, P.V. and Panse, V.G. (1951). Crop surveys in India-II. Journal of the Indian Society of
Agricultural Statistics, 3, 97-168.
53. Sukhatme, P.V. and Kishen, K. (1951). Assessment of the accuracy of Patwaris, area records.
Agricultural and Animal Husbandry, 1, 36-47.
54. Sukhatme, P.V. and Kishen, K. (1951). Systems of agricultural statistics. Bulletin of The
International Statistical Institute, 33(5), 163-175.
55. Sukhatme, P.V., Thawani, V.D., Pendharkar, V.G. and Natu, N.P. (1951). Revised tables for the d-
test of significance. Journal of the Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics, 3, 9-23.
56. Sukhatme, P.V. (1951). Assessment of additional food production (Report of sample survey in
Madhya Pradesh, 1949). Agricultural Situation in India, 5,719-723.
57. Sukhatme, P.V. and Narain, R.D. (1952). Sampling with replacement Journal of the Indian Society
of Agricultural Statistics, 4, 42-49.
58. Sukhatme, P.V. and Seth, G.R. (1952). Non-sampling errors in surveys. Journal of the Indian
Society of Agricultural Statistics, 4, 5-41.
59. Sukhatme, P.V. (1952). Random sampling for improvement of agricultural statistics. Monthly
Bulletin of Agriculture and Economic Statistics, 1, 2-6.
60. Sukhatme, P.V. and Panse, V.G. (1953). Experiments in cultivator's fields. Journal of the Indian
Society of Agricultural Statistics, 5, 144-160.
61. Sukhatme, P.V. (1953). Measurement of observational errors in surveys. Review of the
International Statistical Institute, 20, 121-134.
 23

62. Sukhatme, P.V. (1953). El. Programa De Estadsticas Agropecuarias De FAO. Estadistieal, Journal
of the Inter-American Statistical Institute, 11, 385-393.
63. Sukhatme, P.V. (1953). Why sampling? Inaugural Address at the meeting of the Ceylon Statistical
Society, January 7.
64. Sukhatme, P.V. (1953). The variance of the regression estimate in double sampling from finite
populations. Metron, 17, 1-2.
65. Sukhatme, P.V. (1954). National sample survey - A review. Indian Economics Journal, 1, 239-252.
66. Sukhatme, P.V. (1954). National sample survey - A review. Indian Economics Journal, 1(3), 239-
252.
67. Sukhatme, P.V. (1955). Statistical Services in Agricultural Research. Statistical Seminar, January,
Helsinki, Finland.
68. Sukhatme, P.V. (1955). Discussion of techniques of field investigation - Agricultural Economics
Conference.
69. Sukhatme, P.V. and Sherman, P.L. (1956). International indices of agricultural production. FAO's
Bulletin of Agricultural Economics and Statistics, 5, 1-4.
70. Sukhatme, P.V. (1956). Sample surveys in Indian Agriculture. From Sample Surveys in Indian
Agriculture-Problems and Prospects, 147-159.
71. Sukhatme, P.V. (1957). Amostragem Nas Estatisticas Agricolas Estadistica. Journal of the Inter-
American Statistical Institute Junior, 15, 212-217.
72. Sukhatme, P.V., Panse, V.G. and Sastry, K.V.R. (1958). Sampling technique for estimating catch
of sea fish in India. Biometrics, 14, 78-96.
73. Sukhatme, P.V. (1958). The 1960 World Census of Agriculture. Bulletin of International Statistical
Institute, 36, 239-250.
74. Sukhatme, P.V. (1959). Statistics for agricultural planning-Developments in agricultural statistics
during the last 15 years. Journal of the Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics, 11, 9-26.
75. Sukhatme, P.V. (1959). Sir Pheroze Kharegal. Journal of the Indian Society of Agricultural
Statistics, 11, 27-31.
76. Sukhatme, P.V. (1959). Major Developments in the theory and applications of sampling during the
last twenty-five years. Estadislica. Journal of the Inter-American Statistical Institute, 17, 652-679.
77. Sukhatme, P.V. (1959). Philosophy of Poor. Helping the Poor to Combat Poverty. Indian
Agricultural Statistics Research Institute, New Delhi. Silver Jubilee Souvenir, 1959-1914.
78. Sukhatme, P.V. (1960). El Censo Agropecuario Mundial De Estadistica. Journal of the
International American Statistical Institute, 18, 19-31.
79. Sukhatme, P.V. (1961). The incidence of hunger and malnutrition in the world. Atlantis, 10-12.
80. Sukhatme, P.V. (1961). The world’s hunger and future needs in food supplies. Journal of the Royal
Statistical Society, A124(4), 463-525.
81. Sukhatme, P.V. (1961). India's problem of hunger and future needs in food supplies. 14th Annual
Meeting, Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics, New Delhi.
82. Sukhatme, P.V. (1961). The 1960 world census of agriculture. The use of agricultural census
results as basic data for planning, formulating and appraising agricultural development projects.
Seminar on Analysis, Evaluation and Uses of Agricultural Census and Survey Results for the
African Region, Nairobi. Kenya- Aug. 21-Sept. 2, organized by FAO of the United Nations.
83. Sukhatme, P.V. (1961). The 1960 world census of agriculture. Seminar on Analysis, Evaluation
and Uses of Agricultural Census and Survey Results for the African Region, Nairobi, Kenya-
Aug. 21-Sept. 2, organized by FAO of the United Nations.
84. Sukhatme, P.V. and Elmahdy-Said (1961). Definition of agricultural labour force. Bulletin of the
International Statistical Institute, 38(2), 307-324.
85. Sukhatme, P.V. (1962). Six billions to feed. World Food Problems, No.4, FAO.
86. Sukhatme, P.V. (1962). Food supplies and human nutrition. Essays on Population, Standford
University.
 24

87. Sukhatme, P.V. (1962). The food and nutrition situation in India - Part I. Indian Journal of
Agricultural Economics, 17(2), 1-28.
88. Sukhatme, P.V. (1962). The food and nutrition situation in India - Part II. Indian Journal of
Agricultural Economics, 17(3), 1-34.
89. Sukhatme, P.V. (1963). Third world food survey. FFHC Basic Study. No. 11, FAO, Rome.
90. Sukhatme, P.V. (1963). The incidence of hunger. Statistica Neerlandica, 17(4), 401-424.
91. Sukhatme, P.V. (1963). The implications of population trends for food supplies and requirements
for the Far East with special reference to India. Asian Population Conference, New Delhi.
92. Sukhatme, P.V. (1963). The phenomenon of hunger as FAO sees it. World Justice, 5(2), Lecture
delivered on the occasion of the World Freedom from Hunger Week, NOVIB, The Hague, 21st
March.
93. Sukhatme, P.V. (1964). Food and agriculture in 1984. New Scientist, 21, 376.
94. Sukhatme, P.V. (1964). Implications of population growth on food and agricultural development in
the Far East. 7th FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Far East.
95. Sukhatme, P.V. (1964). Problems of world hunger, today and tomorrow. Paper for 38th
International Eucharistic Congress, Bombay, Seminar on Food and Health.
96. Sukhatme, P.V. (1964). The application of science and technology to production of agricultural
fisheries and forestry products. Paper presented to the Symposium on Statistical Requirements for
Planning Increased Agricultural Production. Seventh FAO Regional Conference for the Near East.
97. Sukhatme, P.V. (1964). The role of statistics in agricultural planning. Eighth FAO Regional
Conference-Latin America, Oct. 30.
98. Sukhatme, P.V. (1964). Health, nutrition and demographic change- Social Science Issues for the
1980's. Maharashtra Association for Cultivation of Sciences, Pune, 4.
99. Sukhatme, P.V., Schulte, W., Ahmad, Z.M. and Jones, G.T. (1965). Demographic factors affecting
food supplies and agricultural development. U.N. World Population Conference, Belgrade,
Aug. 30-Sept. 10.
100. Sukhatme, P.V. and Schulte, W. (1965). Forecasts of nutritional requirements and the expected
levels of demand for food. Proceedings of World Population Conference, Yugoslavia, Aug. 30-
Sept. 10.
101. Sukhatme, P.V. (1965). Food crisis in India and the role of fertilizers. Yearbook of Farmer's
Forum, India.
102. Sukhatme, P.V. (1965). Problems and requirements for education and training in agricultural
statistics and biometrics. Paper presented at the First Regional Seminar on Agricultural Education
for Asia and the Far East, Bangkok, Thailand. October 18-28, organized by the FAO of the United
Nations in cooperation with UNESCO, ILO and the Royal Thai Government.
103. Sukhatme, P.V., Schulte, W., Ahmad, Z.M. and Jones, G.T. (1965). Population and food supplies -
a graphic summary. FAO Monthly Bulletin of Agricultural Economics and Statistics, 14(7/8),
July/Aug. 1-9.
104. Sukhatme, P.V. (1966). The world's food supplies - Malthus bicentenary discussion on fertility,
mortality and world food supplies. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, A129(2), 222-243.
105. Sukhatme, P.V. and Basu, D. (1966). The food and nutrition situation in the Pacific. 11th Pacific
Science Congress-Symposium on Population Problems in the Pacific, University of Tokyo,
Aug. 23-26.
106. Sukhatme, P.V. (1966). Food, farms and the under-privileged. New Scientist, 14, 433-436.
107. Sukhatme, P.V. (1966). Control of human and cattle population -Food, fodder and nutrition
problems in India. Commerce, Annual No. 1-10.
108. Sukhatme, P.V. (1966). The worlds' food supplies. Mercurio, November.
109. Sukhatme, P.V. (1966). Major development in sampling theory and practice. Research Papers in
Statistics, Festschrift for J. Neyman, Ed: F.N. David, John Wiley and Sons, 367-409.
 25

110. Sukhatme, P.V. (1966). Self sufficiency in food production. Can India achieve? Dr. Rajendra
Prasad Memorial Lecture delivered in the 19th Annual Conference of ISAS at CRRI, Cuttack.
111. Sukhatme, P.V. (1967). India's prospects of achieving nutritional self-sufficiency. Science
Reporter, 4, 31-36.
112. Sukhatme, P.V. (1967). Population and food supplies-present picture in South East Asia.
Proceedings of Nutrition Society of India, 1-37.
113. Sukhatme, P.V. (1967). The impact of population on food supplies. IPPF, April, Sandiego.
114. Sukhatme, P.V. (1967). On the trend of obesity in the advanced countries. International Diabetes
Congress, Stockholm.
115. Sukhatme, P.V. (1968). Recent experiences in sample census of agriculture. FAO's Monthly
Bulletin of Agricultural Economics and Statistics, 17, 1-7.
116. Sukhatme, P.V. (1968). Food and people -The role of FAO. Victor Fund Report of the IPPF,
January.
117. Sukhatme, P.V. (1968). Planning for hunger. Science Today, Feb. 11-18.
118. Sukhatme, P.V. (1968). The trend of obesity in the USA. Proceedings of the Amer. Stat. Assoc.,
235-238.
119. Sukhatme, P.V. (1968). On contributions of Vinayaka Govind Panse. Contributions in Statistics
and Agricultural Sciences. Felicitation Volume presented to Dr. V.G. Panse, Ed: G.R. Seth; Indian
Society of Agricultural Statistics, New Delhi, 1-14.
120. Sukhatme, P.V. (1968). On the trend of obesity in the advanced Countries. FAO.
121. Sukhatme, P.V. and Sukhatme, B.V. (1969). On some methodological aspects of sample surveys
of agriculture in developing countries. New Developments in Survey Sampling. A Symposium on
the Foundations of Survey Sampling held at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North
Carolina, Ed: Norman L. Johnson and Harry Smith Jr., Wiley Interscience, 528-561.
122. Sukhatme, P.V. (1969). India and the protein problem. Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals
Industry, Jan.-Feb.
123. Sukhatme, P.V. (1969). The protein gap. Science Today, India, March 9-14.
124. Sukhatme, P.V. (1969). Obituary for Dr. V.G. Panse. Review of International Statistical Institute,
37(3), 347-348.
125. Basu, D., Schulte, W. and Sukhatme, P.V. (1969). Problem of population and resources with
special reference to land use and food supply. Proceedings of IUSSP General Conference, 5.51-
5.33.
126. Sukhatme, P.V. (1969). The protein gap - its size and nature. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society
of India. No.8.
127. Sukhatme, P.V. (1969). A statistical appraisal of the protein problem. FAO Statistics Advisory
Committee of Experts, Fourth Session, Rome, Italy, 15-23 September.
128. Sukhatme, P.V. (1969). The incidence of protein deficiency in India. Indian Journal of Medical
Research, 57, 2170-2185.
129. Sukhatme, P.V. (1969). The dimensions of India's food problem in economic development. Indian
Economic Thought and Development. Popular Prakashan, Bombay, 69-87.
130. Sukhatme, P.V. (1969). Protein deficiency in urban and rural areas: Its measurement, size and
nature- Symposium of the Nutrition Society of Nutritional Problems of Urban Community.
131. Sukhatme, P.V., Ems, N. and Memori, J.M.P. (1970). Need of an assured and controlled supply of
water for improving agricultural production. Review of International Statistical Institute, 38, 120-
139.
132. Sukhatme, P.V. (1970). Incidence of protein deficiency in relation to different diets in India. British
Journal of Nutrition, 24(2), 477-487.
133. Sukhatme, P.V. (1970). Protein deficiency in urban and rural areas: Its measurement, size and
nature. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 29(1), 176-183.
134. Sukhatme, P.V. (1970). Size and nature of the protein gap. Nutrition Reviews, 28(9), 223-226.
 26

135. Sukhatme, P.V. (1970). Nature of the protein problem and its implications for policy measures.
Indian National Food Congress, May.
136. Sukhatme, P.V. (1970). Contributions statisticians can make in determining nature of the food
problem. Biological experiments.
137. Sukhatme, P.V. (1970). Appeal that nutritional protein deficiency be based on observation of total
energy intake, FAO, 1970 or 1971.
138. Basu, D. and Sukhatme, P.V. (1971). The present pattern of production and availability of foods in
Asia. First Asian Congress of Nutrition, Hyderabad, India. January 28-February 2.
139. Sukhatme, P.V. (1971). The incidence of protein deficiency in relation to different diets in
India. British Journal of Nutrition, 24(4), 1477-1480.
140. Sukhatme, P.V. (1972). India and the protein problem. Ecology of Food and Nutrition, 1(4), 267-
278.
141. Sukhatme, P.V. (1972). Protein strategy and agricultural development. Presidential Address,
Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 17, 1-24.
142. Sukhatme, P.V. (1972). India's population and resources with special reference to land use and
food supply-strategy for the seventies. Discussion II, Section of Statistics, Proceedings of the Fifty-
Ninth Indian Science Congress, 50-58.
143. Sukhatme, P.V. (1972). An oblique view. Letter to Editor, Times of India.
144. Sukhatme, P.V. (1972). Convocation Address - Twelfth Convocation of the Statistical Training
Courses at Institute of Agricultural Research Statistics, New Delhi.
145. Sukhatme, P.V. (1972). A statistical appraisal of the protein problem. Statistical papers in Honor
of George W. Snedecor. Ed: T.A. Bancroft, Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa, USA, 259-
284.
146. Sukhatme, P.V. (1973). The calorie gap. Indian Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics, 10, 198-207.
147. Sukhatme, P.V. (1973). Human calorie and protein needs and how far are they satisfied today.
Symposium on Population and Land Use, Eugenics Society, London.
148. Sukhatme, P.V. (1973). Population, food and nutrition with particular reference to countries in
Asia and the Far East. Staff Seminar at Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Poona, India.
149. Sukhatme, P.V. (1973). The protein problem. Dr. B.C. Guha Memorial Lecture No. 10, Diamond
Jubilee Session, Indian Science Congress Association, Chandigarh.
150. Sukhatme, P.V. (1973). The protein problem. Everyman's Science, 8, 14-28.
151. Sukhatme, P.V. (1973). The challenge of hunger. Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences,
India, 43(a), 1 & 2, 90-94.
152. Sukhatme, P.V. (1973). Malnutrition in India. Dr. V.G. Panse Memorial Lecture, delivered at the
27th Annual Conference of ISAS at New Delhi.
153. Sukhatme, P.V. (1974). Nutrition as the determinant of productivity and economic development:
Some basic considerations. Proceedings of the Nutrition of India.
154. Sukhatme, P.V. (1974). Protein gap. Correspondence, Nature, 248, March 1, 8.
155. Sukhatme, P.V. (1974). The protein problem. Science and Human Progress - Essays in
Humanities, Indology, Science, Mathematics and Personal Tributes to Late Prof. Damodar
Dhanrumand Kosambi, Prof. D.O. Kosambi Commemoration Volume, Popular Prakasban, 213-
228.
156. Sukhatme, P.V. (1974). The protein problem: Its size and nature. Journal of the Royal Statistical
Society, A137(2), 166-199.
157. Sukhatme, P.V. (1974). Convocation Address - Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri,
December 25.
158. Sukhatme, P.V. (1974). Food and malnutrition. Marathi Vidhyan Parisbad - Ninth Seminar,
Talegaon Dabhade District, Pune.
159. Sukhatme, P.V. (1974). On the new interpretation of recommended intake for protein, Proceedings
of Nutrition Society, 33, 36A.
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160. Sukhatme, P.V. (1974). Proceedings "On the new interpretation of recommended intake for
protein. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 33(2), 36A-37A.
161. Sukhatme, P.V. (1975). Some problems in the design and interpretation of experimental data
in protein nutrition. Statistical Design and Linear Models, Ed: J.N. Srivastava, North Holland
Publishing Company, 521-540.
162. Sukhatme, P.V. (1975). Model for protein deficiency. Letter to the Editor, American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition, 28, 568.
163. Sukhatme, P.V. (1975). Recent trends in world food availability and their implications.
Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Nutrition, Mexico (Karger, Basel), 3, 10-19.
164. Sukhatme, P.V. (1975). Nutrition as the determinant of productivity and economic development:
Some basic considerations. Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, 1-12.
165. Sukhatme, P.V. (1975). Under nutrition: Suggestions for policy making. Recent Advances in
Nutriolopy, 1, 80-83.
166. Sukhatme, P.V. (1975). Human calorie and protein needs and how far they are satisfied today.
Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics. Social Science Research and Problem of
Poverty. (Concept Publishing Corp.).
167. Sukhatme, P.V. (1975). Relationship between malnutrition and poverty- Reprinted from Social
Science Research and Problem of Poverty (Concept Publishing Company).
168. Sukhatme, P.V. (1976). Stationary nature of variation in N-balance. Proceedings of the Nutrition
Society of London, 35, Part 1, A35, 49-50.
169. Sukhatme, P.V. (1976). Models for protein deficiency: Rejoinder to Drs. Corey and Beaton.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 29, 328.
170. Sukhatme, P.V. (1976). Assessment of food and nutrition situation. Nutrition in the
Community, Ed: D.S. McLaren (Chapter 5), John Wiley and Sons, 43-55.
171. Sukhatme, P.V. (1976). Nitrogen in malnutrition. Ambio, 6, 137-140.
172. Sukhatme, P.V. (1976). Measurement of poverty based on nutritional needs. Bulletin of
International Statistical Institute, 47(4), 553-556.
173. Sukhatme, P.V. (1977). Malnutrition and Poverty. Ninth Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Lecture,
Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.
174. Sukhatme, P.V. (1977). Auto-regulatory homeostasis for nitrogen balance. Biovigyanam, 3, 97-
106.
175. Sukhatme, P.V. (1977). Economics of nutrition - Incidence of undernutrition. Indian Journal of
Agricultural Economics, 32(3), 1-7.
176. Sukhatme, P.V. (1978). Estimates of malnutrition. Proceedings of the Seminar on Science and its
impact on Society, Indian Experience, organized by the Indian National Science Academy, New
Delhi, April, 22-23, 37-40.
177. Sukhatme, P.V. (1978). Convocation Address. Twelfth Convocation, University of Agricultural
Sciences, Bangalore, Feb. 5.
178. Sukhatme, P.V. (1978). Assessment of adequacy of diets at different income levels. Economic and
Political Weekly, 13, 1373-1384.
179. Sukhatme, P.V. and Margen, S. (1978). Models for protein deficiency. American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition, 31(7), 1237-1256.
180. Sukhatme, P.V. (1978). Assessment of adequacy of diets at different income levels. Proceedings of
Nutritional Society, India. IV, 23.
181. Sukhatme, P.V. (1979). Nutrition policy and the Sixth Plan. Science Today, April, 8-10.
182. Sukhatme, P.V. (1979). Fighting poverty and malnutrition - Options and alternatives. Lokrajya,
Maharashtra Day Number, 30-37.
183. Sukhatme, P.V. (1979). Biographical sketch of Dr. V.G. Panse. Biographical Memoirs, INSA, 60-
69.
184. Sukhatme, P.V. (1979). Role of community kitchen in curbing food prices. Times of India.
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185. Sukhatme, P.V. (1979). Nutrition in India in current five years plans. Thirteenth Convocation
Address, Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta, March 30.
186. Sukhatme, P.V. (1980). Nutrition policy; need for re-orientation. Economic and Political Weekly,
15(26), 1101-1105.
187. Sukhatme, P.V. (1981). Relationship between malnutrition and poverty. First National Conference
on Social Sciences: Social Science Research and the Problem of Poverty, Indian Association of
Social Science Institutions, New Delhi, 1-48.
188. Sukhatme, P.V. (1981). Measuring the incidence of undernutrition-A comment. Economic and
Political Weekly, 16(23), 1034-1036.
189. Sukhatme, P.V. (1981). On measurement of poverty. Economic and Political Weekly,
16(32), 1319-1324.
190. Sukhatme, P.V. (1982). An experiment on community kitchen: Its philosophy and implications for
the lives of the poor. Society and Science, 5, 54-68.
191. Sukhatme, P.V. (1982). The process view of nutrition and its implication for frontiers of
research. Proceedings of the Indian Statistical Institute's Golden Jubilee International Conference
on Frontiers of Research in Agriculture, Calcutta, Ed: S.K. Roy, 35-74.
192. Sukhatme, P.V. (1982). Measurement of undernutrition. Economic and Political
Weekly, 17(50), 2000-2016.
193. Sukhatme, P.V. (1982). Presidential Address. Thirty-fifth Annual Conference of the Indian Society
of Agricultural Statistics, New Delhi, Journal of the Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics,
34(1), 5-9.
194. Sukhatme, P.V. and Margen, S. (1982). Autoregulatory homestatic nature of energy balance.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 35(2), 355-365.
195. Sukhatme, P.V. and Margen, S. (1982). Relationship between undernutrition and poverty. Indian
Economic Review, 16, 13-39.
196. Sukhatme, P.V. and Narain, Prem (1982). A possible genetic interpretation of auto-regulatory
mechanism in models for protein deficiency. Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy
- Biological Sciences, B48(6), 748-754.
197. Sukhatme, P.V. and Narain, Prem (1982). The genetic significance of intra-individual variation in
energy requirements. W.G. Cochran’s Impact on Statistics, Eds. P.S.R.S. Rao and J. Sedransk,
Wiley, New York, 275-284.
198. Sukhatme, P.V. (1982). After measurement of undernutrition. Book Reviews, Mikhir Radshit, The
Labor Surplus Economy, A New-Keynesian Approach, MacMillan, 292.
199. Sukhatme, P.V. (1983). Qualitative dimensions of the population growth. Presidential Address,
Thirty Sixth Annual Conference of the Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics, Mahatma Phule
Krishi Vidya Peeth, Rahuri, Journal of the Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics, 35(1), 1-11.
200. Sukhatme, P.V. (1983).The nutrition issue. Proceedings of the National Workshop on Poverty and
Malnutrition held at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, February 7-10, jointly
sponsored by UNICEF, ICAR and TNAU.
201. Sukhatme, P.V. (1983).The nutrition number's game. The Economic Scene, May 16, 29-30.
202. Sukhatme, P.V. (1983). Where is the poverty line? The Economic Scene, August 1, 58-59.
203. Sukhatme, P.V. and Narain, Prem (1983). Intra-individual variation in energy requirement and its
implication. Indian Journal of Medical Research, 78, 857-865.
204. Sukhatme, P.V. (1983). The process view of nutrition and its significance for adaptive regulation.
Paper presented at the XI International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences,
Augus, Vancouver, Canada.
205. Sukhatme, P.V. (1983). An approach to rural development: Theory and application. Improving
rural hygiene and sanitation: Some thoughts. INSA lecture for Rural Development founded out of
the Endowment of Prof. B.D. Tilak Scientific Research and Education Trust, Lady Irwin College,
October 5.
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206. Sukhatme, P.V. (1983). An approach to rural development: theory and application. Proceedings of
the Indian National Science Academy, A50, 11-32.
207. Sukhatme, P.V. (1983). After the nutrition number game, protein and energy requirements. A reply
to Rand and Scrimshane. Economic and political Weekly, XX(44).
208. Sukhatme, P.V. (1986). Quantitative dimensions of the nutrition problem. Global aspects of food
production. Ed: Swaminathan, M.S. and Sinha, S.K., London, U.K.
209. Sukhatme, P.V. (1986). The role of statisticians in moulding human behaviour. Proceedings of the
VIII Annual Conference of ISPS. Shivaji University, Kolhapur, 1-12.
210. Sukhatme, P.V. and Godbole, S.R. (1987). Improving Living Conditions in Villages. Report
submitted to Government of India Monitoring Committee. Pune: Maharashtra Association for the
Tycooty Publications, Ltd.
211. Sukhatme, P.V. (1988). Perspective for reforming education. Man and Development, 16-34.
212. Sukhatme, P.V. (1988). Significance of yoga for education. Journal of Education and Social
Change, 2, 27-56.
213. Sukhatme, P.V. (1989). Nutritional adaptation and variability. European Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, 43, 75-87.
214. Sukhatme, P.V., Agte, V., Chiplonkar, S. and Baralay, S. (1989). Physiological response of human
adults at different levels of energy intake. Nutrition Reports International, 40, 1019-1028.
215. Sukhatme, P.V. (1989). Nutritional adaptation and variability. European Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, 43, 75-87.
216. Sukhatme, P.V. (1989). The meaning and significance of adhyatma for education. Ancient Science
of Life, VIII (3 & 4), 267-278.
217. Sukhatme, P.V. (1989). The nutrition issue, food, physical growth and work output. Nehru
Memorial Lecture, November 1989.
218. Sukhatme, P.V. (1989). Welfare policies with the poor as targets. Recent Advances in
Nutriology, I, Under Nutrition: Suggestions for policy making.
219. Sukhatme, P.V. (1989). Sample Surveys in Indian Agriculture- Problems and Prospects. Keynote
Address to Symposium.
220. Sukhatme, P.V. and Khire Usha (1989). On the interaction between genotype and local
environment as the determinant of intelligence. Abstract.
221. Sukhatme, P.V. (1989). India's prospects of achieving self sufficiency. Science Reporter, 4(1,
2), 31-36.
222. Sukhatme, P.V. (1989). Educational policy, facility of educational studies. SUNY, Buffalo, NY.
Perspective for Reforming Education.
223. Sukhatme, P.V. and Edmundson, W.C. (1990). Food and work: poverty and hunger. Economic
Development and Cultural Change, 38(2), 263-280.
224. Edmundson, W.C. and Sukhatme, P.V. (1990). Food, physical growth and work output. Current
Science, 59(7), 357-362.
225. Sukhatme, P.V., Chiploakar, S.A. and Agte, V.V. (1992). Performance of normal-weight
and underweight men with marginal changes in energy intake. Nutrition, 8(5), 326-332.
226. Sukhatme, P.V. (1992). Crisis of basic values and quality of mass education. Bhartiya Samajik
Chinta, XV(1-4), 62-65.
227. Sukhatme, P.V., Gokhale, M.K., Agte, V.V. and Kulkarni, V.V. (1992). Assessment of impact of
integrated child development services through a follow up study in Indian urban slum
area. Ecology of Food and Nutrition, 27, 67-75.
228. Sukhatme, P.V. (1993). Why are then our children so small? Special lecture delivered at Utkal
University, Bhubaneshwar, 46th Annual Conference, Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics.
229. Sukhatme, P.V. (1993). Diet and disease. Dr Rajendra Prasad Memorial Lecture delivered at the
47th Annual Conference of Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics, Tirupati.
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230. Sukhatme, P.V., Gokhale, M.K. and Chiplonkar, S.A. (1994). Effect of environmental factors on
growth and morbidity of urban Montessori children receiving supplementation. Ecology of Food
and Nutrition, 31(3-4), 269-276.
231. Sukhatme, P.V., Edmundson, W.C. and Margen, S. (1995). A new dimension to the poverty
problems. Education.
232. Sukhatme, P.V. (1996). People of India. XIX Indian Social Science Congress.
233. Edmundson, W.C., Margen, S. and Sukhatme, P.V. (1996). Project to Provide Effective Services of
Community Health Workers. Moulding Human Behavioural Trials. Role of Mind-
Brain Interactions. School of Health Sciences, University of Poona.
234. Sukhatme, P. V. and Narain, Prem (1997). Intra-individual variation in energy requirement and its
genetic significance. Journal of the Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics, 49, 1-10.

Books

1. Edmundson, Wade C., Sukhatme, P.V., and Edmundson, Stella A. (1992). Diet, Disease and
Development. MacMillan India Limited, New Delhi.
2. Panse, V.G. and Sukhatme, P.V. (1954). Statistical Methods for Agricultural Research Workers.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi (1954), 2nd Edition (1967), 3rd Edition revised
by P.V. Sukhatme and V.N. Amble (1976).
3. Sukhatme, P.V. (1954, 1963). Sampling Theory of Surveys with Applications, Indian Society of
Agricultural Statistics, New Delhi and the Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa, USA, 3rd
Edition revised by Sukhatme, P.V. and Sukhatme, B.V. (1970), 4th Edition revised by Sukhatme,
P.V., Sukhatme, B.V., Sukhatme, S. and Asok, C. (1984).
4. Sukhatme, P.V. (1965). Feeding India’s Growing Millions. London: Asia Publishing House.
5. Sukhatme, P.V. (1982). Newer concepts in Nutrition and Their Implications for Policy.
Maharashtra Association for the Cultivation of Science. Pune.