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Professor M S Swaminathan, the country's most renowned agricultural scientist, may be appointed chairman of the National Commission on Farmers.
Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has requested him to head the body following the resignation of its chairman, Sompal.
Sompal, a former agriculture minister, quit last week after the United Progressive Alliance came to power.
The scope of the NCF's work will be expanded while the vacancies in the apex farm pricing body, the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices, will be filled up soon, Pawar said in New Delhi.
The National Democratic Alliance government created the NCF, the first of its kind in independent India, in February this year to look into ways of improving the lot of farmers.
Swaminathan's work in crop genetics and sustainable agricultural development in India won him the World Food Prize in 1987, the Tyler-Honda Prize in 1991 and UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) Sasakawa Award in 1994.
He served as director general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (1972-78) and the International Rice Research Institute (1982-88). He was independent chairman of the Food Aid Organisation Council (1981-85) and president of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (1984-1990).
He was also the president of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences of India and a member of various academies, including the Royal Society of London and the US National Academy of Sciences.
He is the founder of the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, at Taramani, Chennai.