RICAREA and Nuziveedu Seeds Present the 4th M S Swaminathan Award

May 22, 2012 - PRLog -- New Delhi , 22nd  May 2012 – The prestigious M S Swaminathan award, which is the country’s highest citation for undertaking outstanding work in the field of agriculture, was jointly presented today by the Retired Indian Council for Agriculture Research Employees Association (RICAREA) and Nuziveedu Seeds, India’s largest seed company. For the first time, the award has been jointly conferred to Dr. R Sai Kumar, Director of Directorate of Maize Research, at ICAR (Indian Council for Agriculture Research) and Dr. N Shobha Rani, Principal Scientist & Head, Crop Improvement Section at Directorate of Rice Research, for the outstanding work done in their respective fields.
The award was presented by Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan, MLA and President, Loksatta Party and Dr. William Dar, Director General, ICRISAT.
The M S Swaminathan award carries a cash prize of Rs. 2Lakhs, a Medal and a Citation that represents the highest accolade that one can get in the field of agri-innovation in the country.

Dr. R Sai Kumar was nominated for outstanding work done by him as a Maize breeder in the development and release of 14 maize hybrids and varieties. He is also known for the development of 13 maize inbreds possessing special traits like tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Apart from that his highly acclaimed work in maize has won him many accolades and awards both in India and abroad during his career.

Dr. N. Shobha Rani was nominated for the M S Swaminathan award for her outstanding contribution to Genetic Enhancement of Basmati and other Quality rice varieties that lead to higher productivity. Her strong research efforts made under the ICAR Research Network Programmes broke the jinx of undesirable genetic blocks between yield and quality and accomplished the objective of developing semi dwarf high yielding basmati plant type without foregoing the unique constellation of basmati quality features.
During the occasion Dr. MVS Sastry, President, RICAREA said, “The work done by these two outstanding scientists have significantly helped in increasing the production of maize and rice in the country. We are really proud to be presenting this award to them. It reflects the spirit of innovation and hard work that is put by the agricultural scientists in the country, which will definitely have a long term impact in ensuring the food security of the nation apart from providing significant economic gains to farmers and the economy as a whole.”

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Mandava Prabhakar Rao, Chairman and Managing Director, Nuziveedu Seeds Private Ltd, which sponsors the awards, said, “We are very proud to be associated with such a prestigious award because as a company, we place a great deal of importance in the role of innovation in furthering the agricultural future of this country. The work done by these two remarkable scientists further encourages and reinforces our belief in finding scientific ways and means to address the challenges in the agriculture sector of our country.”

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