India fetes former DA chief in fight vs poverty
Posted on

Share:

MANILA – Former Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar (PhDH 1980) was feted one of the most prestigious awards in India for his role in fighting world poverty.

Dar, who is now director general of the Hyderabad-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), received the MS Swaminathan Award for Leadership in Agriculture for the year 2013.

The award is India’s version of the World Food Prize. It was named after Dr. MS Swaminathan, the father of India’s Green Revolution.

The award cites Dar’s work that has “created great impact on the lives of resource poor farmers. Dr. Dar has also actively promoted Public-Private-Farmer partnership linking strongly the end users with the National Agricultural Research System as well as International Agricultural Research Centers.”

The award also highlighted his leadership, which paved the way for research in biotechnology, crop improvement, and water conservation.

Dr. K Kasturirangan, a member of the Science Planning Commission of the Government of India, said: “Dr. Dar’s leadership of ICRISAT has been transformational, and today this institution enjoys a reputation that places it among the top few centers of excellence recognized globally. I join everyone in this country, the scientific community and the agricultural scientists in particular, in extending my heartiest congratulations to Dr. William D. Dar for this well-deserved recognition.”

Kasturirangan said the previous awardees are the who’s who among the top researchers. “It is thus natural that Dr Dar has been selected by the Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS), as the awardee for this year, recognizing his multidimensional and distinguished contributions as an eminent educationist, agriculturist, scientist, administrator and above all a fine humanitarian.”

In accepting the award, Dar said: “This Award is about leadership. I believe that the most important task of a successful leader is to rally his team around a compelling vision of the future, and to have an effective strategy to bring that vision into reality.” (ABS-CBNnews.com)

Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/06/24/13/india-fetes-former-da-chief-fight-vs-poverty