Dilbagh Singh Athwal

Indian-American geneticist, plant breeder and agriculturist (1928-2017)

Dilbagh Singh Athwal (12 October 1928 – 14 May 2017) was an Indian geneticist, plant breeder and agriculturist. He was known to have been a pioneering scientist in the research in plant breeding.[1] He was well known as Father of Wheat Revolution, he was important in developing ‘PV 18’ in 1966 and the most popular amber grained wheat variety ‘Kalyansona’ in 1967.[2][3] In 1967, he joined International Rice Research Institute's management team and ultimately served as the Institute’s first deputy director general.[4][5]

Athwal was a former professor and the Head of the Department of Plant Breeding at Punjab Agricultural University and an associate of Norman Borlaug, the renowned biologist and Nobel Laureate,[6] with whom he has collaborated for the introduction of high-yielding dwarf varieties of Wheat.[7]

Athwal died at his Princeton, New Jersey home on 14 May 2017 from complications of liver failure at the age of 88.[3][8]

References

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  1. "PAU to publish biographies of legendary scientists". Tribune India. 3 December 2015. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  2. "'Father of wheat revolution' D.S. Athwal passes away in US – Daily World". Archived from the original on 2017-08-25. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "'Father of Wheat Revolution' DS Athwal passes away". Hindustan Times. 15 May 2017.
  4. "Our People - International Rice Research Institute". irri.org.
  5. "Dilbagh Singh Athwal died in USA". Archived from the original on 2017-05-27. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  6. "New Horizons in Wheat Production" (PDF). CIMMYT. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 9, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  7. Wheat, barley, and triticale cultivars: A list of publications in which national scientists have noted the cooperation or germplasm they received from CIMMYT. CIMMYT. 1997. pp. 32–. ISBN 978-970-648-055-2.
  8. http://www.uniindia.com/-father-of-wheat-revolution--ds-athwal-is-no-more/states/news/871868.html