Biotech Updates

Rattan Lal Receives MS Swaminathan Award for Leadership in Agriculture

August 28, 2009

The Trust for the Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS), a think tank on advancement of S&T in agriculture in India, has conferred the Dr. M.S. Swaminathan Award for Leadership in Agriculture to Dr. Rattan Lal on August 11, 2009 at New Delhi, India. Dr. Lal is an alumni of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) and a world-renowned soil scientist and director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center of the Ohio State University, USA.

The MS Swaminathan Award for Leadership in Agriculture was instituted in honor of Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, the architect of the Green Revolution in India and chairman of the National Commission of Farmers. Dr. Swaminathan is currently serving as a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, the Parliament of India. The award recognizes those who have made great impact in the field of agriculture on a global basis, and in food security and sustainability of agriculture in India. Nobel Laureate Dr. Norman E. Borlaug received the first MS Swaminathan award from former President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in March 2005. The second and third Award was presented to distinguished scientists and World Food Laureates Dr. G.S. Khush in 2006 and to Dr. S.K. Vasal in 2007.

The guidelines and nomination for the Dr. MS Swaminthan Award for Leadership in Agriculture is available on the website of the Trust for the Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS) at: www.taas.in.

For more information about Dr. Rattan Lal and his contribution on carbon management and sequestration at the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center (C-MASC) visit http://senr.osu.edu/cmasc/index.html.

For more information about biotech development in India contact: b.choudhary@cgiar.org and k.gaur@cgiar.org