Announcement

National Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Invites Nominations for different Academy Awards 
(Last date for receipt of Nominations is April 15, 2024)

The National Academy of Agricultural Sciences has instituted various Awards for recognizing significant contributions of senior, middle level and young scientists to promote agricultural research. Memorial, Endowment and Recognition awards are presented biennially at the time of Agricultural Sciences Congress. Young Scientist Awards are given annually and are presented in the Annual General Body meeting of the Academy. Nominations for the under mentioned categories of Awards are invited.  Nominations may be submitted to the Academy by Fellows of NAAS; Former NAAS Awardees; DG/DDGs/ADGs of ICAR; Secretaries of Scientific Departments of Government of India; Presidents of Science Academies; Directors/Joint Directors of ICAR Research Institutes/ NRCs/Project Directorates; Heads of Institutions of CSIR, ICMR; Vice Chancellors/ Directors/Deans of SAUs/CAUs; Chairman UGC, ASRB, BARC; Principal Scientific Advisors, GOI; Presidents of all Professional Societies in the field of Agriculture; Heads of CGIAR Centres.

SELF NOMINATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED

I.          MEMORIAL AWARDS

These awards are for life time contributions to the cause of Indian Agriculture including Research, Education and Transfer of Technology. The Awardee’s contribution should have been recognized nationally/internationally and supported by significant publications. The Awardee shall be a distinguished Scientist above 55 years in age.

1.   Dr. B.P. Pal Memorial Award for Excellence in Agricultural Sciences: This award is the apex award of the Academy. It is given once in two years for singular outstanding overall contribution to agriculture. The awardee can be from any branch of science relevant to agriculture. The award consists of a citation and cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000/-

2.   Dr. K. Ramiah Award: For outstanding contributions in Agricultural Research in Plant Production including Genetics, Plant Breeding, Cytogenetics, Physiology, Biotechnology and Biochemistry of crops, fruits, vegetables, flowers, medicinal plants and forest trees.

3.   Dr. K.C. Mehta Award: For outstanding contributions in Plant Protection including Entomology, Plant Pathology, Nematology, Microbiology and Agro-chemicals.

4.   Dr. M.S. Randhawa Award: For outstanding contributions in Agricultural Administration, Transfer of Technology and Social Sciences.

5.  Dr. N.S. Randhawa Award: For outstanding contributions in Agricultural Engineering and Natural Resources Conservation and Management, and Environment Sciences including Agronomy, Meteorology and Agro-forestry.

6.   Dr. P. Bhattacharya Award: For outstanding contributions in Animal Sciences/ Animal Production Systems & Fisheries.

The awards from Sl. No. 2 to 6 consist of a citation and cash prize of Rs. 50,000/-.

II.        ENDOWMENT AWARDS

The Endowment Awards shall be treated at par with Memorial Awards, including age, for the purpose of eligibility and selection criteria, and carries a citation and cash prize of Rs. 50,000/-. The three Endowment Awards are:

  1. Dr. L.C. Sikka Endowment Award: The award will be given to an outstanding scientist for contributions towards ensuring food and nutritional security. The awardee can be from any branch of science relevant to agriculture.
  2. Dr. (Ms.) Prem Dureja Endowment Award: The award will be given to an outstanding woman scientist for her overall contribution to agriculture.
  3. Dr. N.G.P. Rao Endowment Award: The award will be given to an outstanding scientist for contributions in the area of crop sciences.

III.       RECOGNITION AWARDS

1.       These awards are for distinguished contributions to the advancement of knowledge/ technologies in the relevant scientific disciplines of the particular area of agricultural sciences for which the award has been instituted. The research contributions should be based on work carried out in India as evidenced by publications in scientific journals of repute and products and technologies developed. The period of assessing the contributions shall be upto the year of nomination. The awards shall be given to the distinguished scientists in the age group of 35‑55 years in the following areas:

a.       Plant Improvement including Genetics and Plant Breeding, Plant Genetic Resources, Plant Physiology, Plant Biotechnology, Plant Physiology & Biochemistry, Seed Technology and Post-Harvest Technologies for all Field Crops and Horticultural crops.

b.       Plant Protection including Agricultural Entomology, Plant Pathology, Nematology, Microbiology, Agricultural Chemicals and Organic Chemistry.

c.       Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences including Natural Resource Management, Soil Science including Soil Microbiology, Water Management (other than Soil and Water Engineering), Environmental Sciences, Agronomy, Agricultural Physics, Agricultural Meteorology, Forestry and Agro-forestry.

d.       Animal Sciences including Animal Genetics & Breeding, Animal Nutrition, Animal Physiology, Animal Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Animal Production, Animal Reproduction, Animal Health, Animal Products Technology, Dairy Science, Poultry Science, Fisheries Resource Management and Aquaculture including Fish Genetics & Breeding, Fish Nutrition, Fish Pathology, Fish Biotechnology, Fish Biosystematics & Fish Processing &Technology.

e.       Agricultural Engineering including Farm Machinery & Power, Soil & Water Engineering, Agricultural Process Engineering, Value addition and Post-Harvest Technology, Food Technology, Textile Chemistry and Computer Application in Agriculture.

f.        Social Sciences including Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Statistics, Extension Education, Bioinformatics, and Community Science, including Food Science and Nutrition.

2.       Each award consists of a citation and cash prize of Rs. 30,000/-.

IV.       YOUNG SCIENTISTS’ AWARDS

1.       The primary objective of this category of awards is to encourage young scientists of promise and creativity through their contributions to agricultural sciences after obtaining Ph.D. degrees.

2.       Scientists below the age of 35 years are eligible for this award.

3.       There will be eight awards, one in each area of the following area of agricultural sciences:

  1. Crop Sciences, covering Genetics and Plant Breeding, Plant Genetic Resources, Plant Biotechnology, Plant Physiology & Biochemistry, Seed Technology and Post-Harvest Technologies for all field crops.
  2. Horticultural Sciences, covering Genetics and Plant Breeding, Plant Genetic Resources, Plant Biotechnology, Plant Physiology & Biochemistry, Seed Technology and Post-Harvest Technologies  for all horticultural crops.
  3. Animal Sciences, covering Animal Genetics & Breeding, Animal Nutrition, Animal Physiology, Animal Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Animal Production, Animal Reproduction, Animal Health, Animal Products Technology, Dairy Sciences and Poultry Sciences.
  4. Fisheries Sciences, covering Fish Genetics & Breeding, Fish Nutrition, Fish Pathology, Fish Biotechnology, Fish Biosystematics, Fish Processing &Technology, Fisheries Resource Management and Aquaculture.
  5. Natural Resource Management Sciences, covering Agricultural Meteorology, Agronomy, Environmental Science, Forestry, Agroforestry, Soil Science including Soil Microbiology, Water Management (other than Soil and Water Engineering) and Agricultural Physics.
  6. Plant Protection Sciences, covering Agricultural Chemicals, Agricultural Entomology, Plant Pathology, Nematology, Microbiology and Organic Chemistry.
  7. Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Farm Machinery & Power, Soil and Water Engineering, Agricultural Process Engineering, Value addition and Post-Harvest Technology, Food Technology, Textile Technology and Computer Application in Agriculture. 
  8. Social Sciences, covering Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Statistics, Extension Education, Bioinformatics, and Community Science, including Food Science and Nutrition

4.       Selection will be made on the basis of nominations received in the prescribed proforma.

5.       Each award will consist of a citation and cash prize of Rs. 25,000/-.

Notes:        (i)  The duly completed Award nomination forms available on Academy’s Nomination portal https://naasnominations.in/ may kindly be submitted online on or before 15th April 2024.

(ii)   Serving Office Bearers and Members of the NAAS-EC shall not be eligible for the Awards of the Academy during the period of his/her tenure in the Executive Council.

(iii)  Cut-off date for determining age of nominees shall be 15th April of year of inviting the nominations.