It is an extremely proud and momentous occasion for PAU, as Vice Chancellor Dr B.S. Dhillon is declared the recipient of the prestigious award ‘Padma Shri’, the fourth highest civilian award by the Government of India. Steered by his exemplary vision, commitment and passion towards the betterment of agriculture in the country, it was a day of pride and joy for the faculty who extended their wishes at the significant achievement.
Dr Dhillon’s major contributions:
Dr. Baldev Singh Dhillon, Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana is an illustrous scientist in Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources and an able administrator. He has served PAU as Director of Research and Maize Breeder and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, as Assistant Director General, and Director, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, ICAR-NBPGR. He was also Director of Research, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. Just prior to joining PAU as Vice Chancellor, he was working in University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany. Earlier, he served at the University of Birmingham, UK and International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Mexico.
As Vice Chancellor since 2011 and Director of Research during 2005-07, Dr Dhillon took numerous initiatives, as a result of which, PAU won Sardar Patel Outstanding ICAR Institution Award – 2017, and is identified as a ‘Special Institution in Agriculture’ having great potential to reach national and global prominence by the Empowered Expert Committee of MHRD constituted for the selection of Institutions of Eminence. PAU also occupies top rank in research publications and citations among all State, Central and Deemed Universities as per CII-India Citation Index Report, 2017.
Under Dr Dhillon’s guidance, PAU has developed outstanding crop varieties and their production-protection technologies. The state productivity, as a result has improved steadily, surpassing 12t/ha from parmal rice-wheat cropping system during 2017-18. Early maturing, high yielding varieties of paddy developed by PAU have been widely adopted and confer advantages of water and pesticide savings, besides facilitating residue management on account of their low biomass. PAU has led the nation in the development of zinc-biofortified wheat, bollworm resistant Bt cotton and less seeded Kinnow as steps towards nutritional security, diversification and value addition. Farm machinery developed at PAU provides a complete solution for paddy straw management besides catering to improvement in spray technology and drying of produce. Dr Dhillon led the Joint Inter-State Campaign in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan that successfully managed the cotton whitefly resulting in record productivity of 756 and 750 kg per ha of lint as compared to 197 kg per ha during 2015 and saving of pesticides worth 2589 and 2808 rupees per ha during 2016 and 2017, respectively, in Punjab.
PAU has reoriented its research programmes towards sustainable agriculture under Dr Dhillon’s leadership by emphasizing rational use of water resources and nutrients. Non-chemical practices were successfully incorporated in integrated pest and nutrient management. Plant biotechnology was integrated with crop improvement to expeditiously meet the multiple challenges of climate change, nutritional security and stress tolerance. New crops, protected cultivation and value addition are being promoted to improve farm income. PAU has strengthened linkages with industry particularly seed, food processing and farm machinery sector in order to serve the farmers better.
During his tenure as Director, NBPGR, Dr. Dhillon actively participated in negotiations on the formulation of International Treaty of Plant Genetic Resources to safeguard interests of Indian plant wealth. He strove to strengthen the national genebank system by enhancing germplasm holdings from 1.96 to 3.03 lakhs. A germplasm network covering major crops was initiated.
Dr Dhillon developed 16 maize varieties and hybrids including ‘Paras’, the first single cross in India, 1995, and thereby, gave a new direction to maize breeding in the country. His pioneering work on maize cultivation during non-traditional season led to the emergence of spring maize as an important crop. He has developed new plant breeding methods and quantitative genetic analysis, which have become part of Plant Breeding text books.
Dr. Dhillon has outstanding academic credentials. He obtained his Doctorate from Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. He has bagged many prestigious scholarships and post-doctoral fellowships including German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD Fellowship and Alexander-von-Humboldt Fellowship, and University of Hohenheim Fellowship to work in Germany and Alexander-von-Humboldt Europe Fellowship University to work at University of Birmingham, UK. He was awarded JC Bose National Fellowship by DST, India.
He has published 400 research papers besides 13 scientific books. He has been Member of Editorial Boards of international and national scientific journals, such as Theoretical and Applied Genetics, Germany, Maydica, Italy, Journal of Crop Improvement, USA, Rice Genetics Newsletter, Japan to name a few, and Regional Secretary of the Society for the Advancement Breeding Researches in Asia and Oceania.
Dr Dhillon has been recognized with several awards such as: Dr BP Pal Memorial Award, and Recognition Award by National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Memorial Prize by ICAR, Om Parkash Bhasin Award for Science and Technology and Gold Medal by IARI. He is Fellow of several academies, such as Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, India, Punjab Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Dhillon is a dedicated scientist and visionary administrator who has provided leadership in developing technologies for sustainable agriculture. |
