Hyderabad: Swaminathan Award for PJTSAU V-C Praveen Rao

Hyderabad: Dr V Praveen Rao, Vice-Chancellor of Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU), is to be conferred with the prestigious Dr MS Swaminathan Award.

The biennial award instituted by the Retired ICAR Employees Association (RICAREA) and Nuziveedu Seeds Limited (NSL) recognizes and rewards the work of agricultural scientists and professionals who made a great contribution towards the progression of the agricultural sector in the country.

The award selection committee, headed by Dr RS Paroda, former Director General, ICAR and other representatives selected Dr Praveen Rao out of thirteen potential candidates from the fields of agriculture, horticulture, and veterinary sciences.

The committee has commanded the outstanding and innovative contributions of Dr Praveen Rao in the areas of agricultural research, teaching, extension and administration.

Dr Rao, the first Vice-Chancellor of PJTSAU, in office since 2016, has to his credit, outstanding contributions in the areas of micro-irrigation and water management.

Progressive academic reforms and visionary research prioritisation has made the university stand in the first position, among the agriculture universities and sixth among the State agriculture universities in the country.

Starting his career with the Andhra Pradesh Agriculture University in 1985, Dr Rao has over 35 years of experience as a teacher and researcher.

He has handled 13 research and 6 consultancy projects of micro-irrigation in India, Israel and South Africa.

He was a technical advisor along with being instrumental in the formulation and commissioning of world's largest micro-irrigation project covering an area of 0.9 million hectares, a project considered as a milestone in Indian agriculture.

As an international micro-irrigation consultant, he also contributed to the digital knowledge material on drip irrigated agricultural and horticultural crops.