People in Agriculture - Gurdev Khush

Every country has its own list of luminaries who have done yeoman work in agriculture. Fritz Haber of Germany helped develop synthetic fertilisers, Masanobu Fukuoka of Japan is a legendary name in natural farming, Yuan Longping is known as a Chinese agronomist, and there’s India’s M.S.Swaminathan, the Father of the Green Revolution in our country. In the same vein, it is pertinent to state that Dr.Gurdev Singh Khush is the Father of the Rice Revolution. Let’s look at a few things that made this legend.

Who is Dr.Gurdev Khush?
Gurdev Khush is a geneticist & agronomist who has made a mark in the field of rice. His phenomenal work has positively impacted global supply of rice. Such is the impact & extent of his work, that he was the World Food Prize Laureate in 1996, along with Henry Beachell. They were given this honour for helping increase rice production in several countries because of advances in rice breeding.

Khush’s career in agriculture began with graduation from Punjab Agricultural University, and a Ph.D from University of California, Davis (UC Davis). After he joined the International Rice Research Institute in Philippines, he spent more than two decades in developing rice varieties by focusing on breeding, and genetic research.

One of the ‘by-products’ of this immense work is the semi-dwarf IR36 hybrid rice variety (known also as Super Rice) which:

• is highly resistant to pest attacks

• has Rapid maturity times

• is characterised by its slender grains &

• helped increase rice yields tremendously

Such was the impact of his work, that the global rice production went to 626 million tonnes in the year 2006, from 257 million tonnes in the year 1966.

Continuing work
Thanks to the efforts of Gurdev Khush, rice breeding is continuing to take centre stage in Indian agriculture. Very recently, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana established the Gurdev Singh Khush Museum, and the Gurdev Singh Khush Institute of Genetics, Plant Breeding and Biotechnology to spearhead awareness and work in genomics, and biotechnology.

Gurdev Khush is associated with a stellar collection of institutes around the world: Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, US National Academy of Sciences, The World Academy of Sciences in Italy, and Chinese Academy of Sciences to name just a few. Such is his work in rice breeding, that he has received honorary doctorates and degrees from twelve universities!

His work in rice has also helped reduce the application or use of environmentally harmful pesticides. Around four decades back, when he began his work in rice breeding, very few countries had the infrastructure to support Gurdev Khush, and today, the capacity of agri research is phenomenal, thanks in no small part to the work done by the rice man!

It is significant to note that Dr.Norman E Borlaug, the Father of the Green Revolution once said, “Dr Khush has done much to provide basic building block to millions of people throughout the world.” And it is this plaudit that truly sums up the world-changing work done by Dr.Gurdev Singh Khush.

#InterestingInfo

• The semi-dwarf IR36 was made by crossbreeding rice varieties from six countries, and the IR8 variety.

• GS Khush has also been honoured with the Padma Shri in 2000, and the Borlaug Award in 1977.