Global Agriculture Leadership Awards Announced; Lifetime Achievement Award for Padamsree Dr. KH Gharda
New Delhi: Global Leadership Summit & Awards are being organised by Indian Council of Food and Agriculture with support of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare; Ministry of Food Processing Industries and Ministry of Commerce.
The National Awards Committee of Agriculture Leadership Awards, which met in New Delhi on Oct 17, announced the Global Agriculture Leadership Awards for 2018, under various categories. The Awards Committee is chaired by Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, the architect of green revolution and has 24 members of global eminence as its members, which includes Dr. RB Singh, chancellor of central agriculture university, Dr Purvi Mehta, Asia Director, Ag of Gates Foundation, H.E. Wassafi H Sreihin, Secretary general, AARDO, Dr. HK Bhanwala, chairman, NABARD and Siraj Choudhry, Chairman, Cargill, besides others.
The Life Time Achievement Award for 2018 has been decided to be presented to Padamsree Dr. KH Gharda for his outstanding contributions to the Indian chemical sector with special interests in agrochemicals which positively impacted the growth in India’s farm sector and created newer opportunities in the Indian agrochemical sector. A world renowned Philanthropist, Chemical Engineer and Entrepreneur, Gharda developed cheaper and better indigenous ways to develop chemicals ending India’s reliance on imported dyes and chemicals.
The International Leadership Award goes to Prof. Rudy Rabbinge, Special Envoy – Food Security, Government of Netherlands for his immeasurable contributions in the field of food security and rural development. Prof. Rabbinge was the chair of the Inter-Academy Panel on Food Security and Agricultural Productivity in Africa and member of the Board of Directors of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). He has served in different responsibilities in Academia and cooperative private companies and in politics.
National Research Development Corporation has bagged the Research Leadership Award for their commitment towards promoting, developing, nurturing and commercializing innovative, reliable and competitive technologies from R&D institutes through value addition and partnership.
Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu will be awarded the Policy Leadership Award for his proactive policies for uplifting the farming community by focusing on irrigation, investment, global partnerships, marketing initiatives and zero budget natural farming.
The best Fisheries State Award will be presented to Shri Raghubar Das, Chief Minister of Jharkhand in recognition of the state’s efforts in augmenting the production potential of the state in fisheries segment and realizing record production in the process.
Agriculture Leadership Awards were instituted in 2008 to recognize the leadership roles played by individuals and institutions positively impacting the lives of farmers and rural masses. The awards will be presented at the Global Agriculture Leadership Summit on Oct 24, 2018 in New Delhi at a special session 6.30 pm – 8.30 pm at Hotel Hyatt Regency, New Delhi.
The Awards will be presented by the Union Home Minister, Sh. Rajnath Singh, and joined by Prof. MS Swaminathan and Prof. Ganeshi Lal, Hon’ble Governor, Odisha in the presence of over 400 global business leaders, experts and government officials.