India to institute Norman Borlaug Chair at IARI

Updated on: Thursday, October 08, 2009

Washington: To honour Norman Borlaug's invaluable contribution in Green Revolution, India will set up a Norman Borlaug Chair in Agricultural Biotechnology for Crop Improvement at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) at Pusa in New Delhi.

The announcement in this regard was made yesterday by MS Swaminathan, MP and former Chairman of National Commission on Farmers, in his eulogy at the Public Memorial Service honouring the life of Norman E Borlaug at Texas A&M University (TAMU) in College Station.

'The setting up of this Chair is aimed at promoting and developing a centre of excellence in basic research in agricultural biotechnology for crop improvement,' the Indian Embassy said in a media release.

The Department of Agriculture Research and Education will be nodal department for this purpose. The Distinguished Chair would be of the rank of Vice-Chancellor, it said.

Dr Swaminathan is an internationally renowned agriculture scientist who has been in the forefront of Indis Green Revolution. His close associations with Borlaug and his family date back to 1953.

Borlaug, father of the Green Revolution, was conferred the Padma Vibhushan, Indias second highest civilian award in 2006.

India to institute Norman Borlaug Chair at IARI

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