Prasad was born in an Ezhava family in Cherai on the island of Vypin in the coastal district of Ernakulam in present day Indian state of Kerala.

[1] Prasad joined the Kerala State Educational Service in 1955 and went on to spend over 30 years in the academic arena holding various positions in the Kerala higher education system including Principal of the Maharaja’s College Ernakulam, Kochi and Pro Vice Chancellor of Calicut University.

[1] In 1971, he partnered with scientists Syed Zahoor Qasim and U. K. Gopalan to organize a seminar and draw attention to the problems of industrial pollution in the Ernakulam district.

These efforts were followed by ground level activism including organization of street plays and other forms of protest across the state.

[6][8][9] In India, he chaired the Programme Advisory Committee of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation's (MSSRF) Agro Biodiversity Centre, in Wayanad, Kerala and served as a member of the Governing Council of the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) and of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board.

[6][10][7][11][9] He authored numerous books and monographs in Malayalam on environmental issues and popular science and co-authored a techno-economic and socio-political assessment of the Silent Valley Hydro Electric project in 1979.