Dryland Management in Arid Ecosystem The 35th Dr. R.V. Tamhane Memorial Lecture* Narain Pratap, Vice-Chancellor | Born on January 1, 1945, Dr. Pratap Narain obtained M.Sc. (Ag.) in 1966 and Ph.D. in 1969 in Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry from Indian Agriculture Research Institute (lARI), New Delhi. Dr. Pratap Narain always stood first throughout the career and remained amongst top scorers. He was Post Doctoral Fellow (1970–72) at the University of Goettingen, West Germany. He learnt German at Goethe Institute, Staufen (W. Germany). Dr. Pratap Narain was awarded ICAR and CSIR fellowships during his studentship. He is a recipient of Sunitibala Raychaudhuri gold medal for highest grade point average during Ph.D. at IARI, New Delhi. |
| He obtained advanced trainings at Reading University and Silsoe College, United Kindgom, and Purdue University in USA in soil erosion modelling and water budgeting. He was actively involved in Indo-Egypt and Indo-Nepal work plans. |
| Dr. Narain started his professional career as Soil Scientist at RBS College, Bichpuri, Agra in 1973 and joined ICAR as Scientist-2 (1975–81); served Scientist-3 (1981–85) and Principal Scientist and Head (1986–99) at CSWCRTI, Dehradun. Dr. Narain was Director, CAZRI, Jodhpur from 1999 to 2006. |
| He was a Task Manager of UNCCD Network Project (2000–2006) on Agroforestry and Soil Conservation in Arid, Semi-Arid and Dry Subhumid Regions. He was National Coordinator (2001–2004) of ACIAR-ICAR Project on Integrated Technologies of Assessing Causes of Degradation of Arid Community Range Lands. After his superannuation in December, 2006, he joined as Vice-Chancellor of Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner on May 19,2007. He has 24 years of experience as research scientist, 7 years as Director CAZRI and more than a year as Vice-Chancellor, RAU, Bikaner. |
| Dr. Narain has published more than 80 research papers in journals of international repute and has more than 30 popular articles, 50 symposium papers and 30 books/bulletins to his credit as author/editor. |
| Dr. Narain is an eminent Soil Scientist and an expert on Soil Conservation and Watershed Management. Agroforestry, Land Management in rainfed south eastern Rajasthan and arid deserts of western Rajasthan are the areas in which Dr. Narain has extensively contributed as Scientist, research manager and administrator. |
| Dr. Narain is a widely traveled person. He has visited countries like West Germany, England, USA, Nepal, Egypt, UAE and Africa in pursuit of advanced research, specialized trainings and international meetings. He has handled several international assignments and represented India during FAO Workshop at Kuala Lumpur (1966), Hanoi (1997), Commonwealth Meeting at Kenya (1986) and several UNCCD conventions in recent past. Dr. Narain has been Consultant to UNCCD, IWMI, Colombo and NRSA, Hyderabad. |
| Dr. Narain held offices of several professional bodies and societies including Indian Society of Soil and Water Conservationist and Arid Research Association of India. He has received several awards and honours for his contributions including coveted ICAR AWARD of Outstanding Multidisciplinary Team Research in Agriculture and Allied Sciences (1992–93) and Doreen Masher Award (2004) and Brandis Prize of Indian Forester (2003). |
Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner, Rajasthan. *Delivered on 28 November 2008 at 73rd Annual Convention of the Indian Society of Soil Science at University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, Karnataka. |