Ranbir Singh Kanwar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may not meet the general notability guideline or one of the following specific guidelines for inclusion on Wikipedia: Biographies, Books, Companies, Fiction, Music, Neologisms, Numbers, Web content, or several proposals for new guidelines. If you are familiar with the subject matter, please expand or rewrite the article to establish its notability. The best way to address this concern is to reference published, third-party sources about the subject. If notability cannot be established, the article is more likely to be considered for redirection, merge or ultimately deletion, per Wikipedia:Guide to deletion.
This article has been tagged since June 2007.
This biographical article or section is written like a résumé.
Please help improve it by revising it to be neutral and encyclopedic. (December 2007)

Ranbir Singh Kanwar was an eminent sugarcane scientist, former Additional Director of Research (Agriculture) and Director, Sugarcane Research, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.

His most outstanding research contributions were the development of CO.J. 64, CO.J. 83 and CO.J. 85 (CO - Coimbatore, J - Jalandhar: Naming done by abbreviating these two cities in India where the varieties were bred, Flowering of sugarcane crop occurs only in Coimbatore's climate.) These are three exceptional early maturing higher sugar content varieties:

  • Introduction of polythene-bag technique for quick seed multiplication.
  • Inter-cropping technology with wider inter-row spacing.
  • Development of agro-techniques for raising successful ratoon crop from winter harvested crop and improved nitrogen use efficiency with soil applied insecticides.

As Additional Director of Research (Agriculture), Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana and his short stint as Director of Research (1979-1980) in Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University, Palampur, he gave new directions to agricultural research in the two north Indian states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. He also worked as Senior Sugarcane Consultant to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Pakistan (1987-1988).

He was a member of the Research Advisory Committee of the ICAR Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore and Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow. He has to his credit more than 250 research publications in national and international journals and was a recipient of a number of awards and honours. He was a member of a nodal group on Sugarcane Research & Development, Punjab Government and was on the Board of Directors & Consultant to most of the prominent Sugar Mills in North India. He was widely traveled and visited important Sugarcane growing countries of the world.

He was a workaholic and always keen to improvise agricultural research for the benefit of the farmer. His whole thought process was dominated by fresh ideas and a will to work for Sugarcane, his first love.

As a result of his unstinted efforts sugar industry thrived in the northern states of India and he was much sought after by the prominent sugar manufacturing industries in India and abroad.

He lived a flawless and healthy life till 2002 when he was unfortunately diagnosed with a benign tumour of the left kidney. But against all medical advice he kept on working relentlessly till the end and succumbed to the disease exactly on his 75th birthday.

He will live on with the majestic sugarcane crop, as tall and lanky as himself, growing in the fertile Indo Gangetic plains forever.

[edit] External Links


[edit] References

  • Kanwar, R.S., et al., "Effect of Inter-Row Spacing on Tiller Mortality, Stalk Population and Yield of Sugar Cane", International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists, vol. 2, 1974, 751-55.