Managing our Agrobiodiversity

by

Dr. Raj Paroda

Founder Chairman, Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS),
Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.

Former Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) &
Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Government of India

About the Speaker

Dr. Raj Paroda, former Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) & Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Government of India, holds a unique perspective as an accomplished scientist, able research administrator and development practitioner. He is well known for modernization and strengthening of the Indian national agricultural research system (NARS). Recognizing his enormous contributions in the field of agricultural research, Government of India had bestowed on him the prestigious Padma Bhusan Award in 1998. He is recipient of several awards and recognitions, namely Rafi Ahmad Kidwai Prize, ICAR Team Research Award, FICCI Award, Om Prakash Bhasin Award, BP Pal Gold Medal, Norman E. Borlaug Award, Agricultural Today Award, Mahendra Shiromani Award, AB Joshi Award, US Awasthi-IFFCO Award and M.S. Swaminathan Award. He has also served as President, Indian Science Congress (2001) and President, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (1997-2000). Nineteen universities have awarded him D.Sc. (Honoris Causa) degree including Ohio State University and Indian Agricultural Research Institute. He is Fellow of almost all science academies in India, Third World Academy of Sciences, Italy, Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Agriculture Academics of Armenia, Georgia and Tajikistan and Honorary Member of American Society of Crop Science and American Society of Agronomy. Recently, he has been elected as Foreign Fellow of Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ASTE).

Dr. Paroda had been the founder chairman of Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), from 1997-2002 based at FAO, Rome. He also served for more than two decades (1992-2014) as Executive Secretary of Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), FAO, Bangkok. Dr. Paroda also served as Chairman, Farmers Commission of Haryana from 2010-2014. He was also a member of Advisory Committee of ACIAR, CABI and WMO, was Chairman of Board of Trustees of ICRISAT, and Member of Finance Committee and SIMEC of CGIAR. Currently, he is serving on the Board of International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), Alabama, USA. For the last over two decades, Dr. Paroda is serving as Founder Chairman, Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS), based at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.