National Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Dr. Ashok Kumar Patra
FELLOW, ELECTED 2010

Born in Araldihi, Bankura, India on 7 September 1960. Educated at Araldihi High School, Bankura, 1971-76; Dubrajpur Uttarayan Vidyayatan, Bankura, West Bengal, 1976-78; B.Sc. (Agriculture): Banaras Hindu University, 1978-83; M.Sc. & Ph.D.: Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 1983-89; Post-Doctoral/Visiting Fellow: International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Hyderabad, 1991-93; Institute of Grassland & Environmental Research, UK, 1996; Ecologie Microbienne (CNRS-Universite' Lyon 1), France, 2001-03; University of Notre Dame, USA 2008-09.

Vice-Chancellor, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswa Vidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal, 2024 to date.

Scientist, 1989-94 & Scientist (Sr. Scale), 1994-98, Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi; Senior Scientist, 1998-99, Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai; Senior Scientist, 1999-2006 & Principal Scientist2006-2014, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi; Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal 2014-2022; Emeritus Scientist, ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, 2023-24.

Awards/Honours: UN FAO Glinka World Soil Prize 2022; Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award of ICAR for Outstanding Research in Agricultural Sciences 2021; Platinum Jubilee Commemoration Award 2022 of Indian Society of Soil Science for Life Time Achievements; International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI)-FAI Award 2018; Prof. Sushil Kumar Mukherjee Commemoration Award of Indian Science Congress Association 2018; ICAR-IARI Hooker Award 2013; FAI Dhiru Morarji Memorial Award 2011; Bioved Agri-innovation Award 2015; British Council TCT Award 1996; DBT Overseas Associateship Award 2008; Member, Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS) of GSP/FAO, Rome, 2018-21; Prof. J.N. Mukherjee ISSS Foundation Lecture Award 2023; Honorary Fellow, Indian Society of Soil Science, 2025; Recognized one among 10 Researchers in Soil Science of the World, 2025) (Rogitex, Canada); Recognized one among 13 soil scientists of the world advancing soil research and education (Food Tank, USA), 2017; AAAS-Life Time Achievement Award 2024; Dr. MV Rao Memorial Lecture 2019; Dr. N.S. Randhawa Memorial Lecture Award of ISSS 2018. Dr. G.S. Sekhon Memorial Lecture Award of ISSS 2012. During the tenure as Director (2014-2022), ICAR-IISS received UN FAO King Bhumibol World Soil Day Award 2020; Sardar Patel Outstanding ICAR Institution Award 2018; Krishi Sansthan Samman Award (National Award Winner) (2016) by Mahindra Samridhi (Mahindra & Mahindra); Associate Editor, European Journal of Soil Science since 2014; Vice President, Indian Society of Soil Science 2016-17; President, Indian Science Congress Association (Agri and Forestry Sciences Section) 2016-17; President, Indian Society of Soil Science 2019-21.

Fellow: National Academy of Sciences (India); West Bengal Academy of Science & Technlogy; Indian Society of Soil Science; Range Management Society of India

Research Areas: Nitrogen cycling, soil health, sustainable soil management, soil biodiversity, climate change, carbon sequestration, nano-fertilizers

Address: Vice-Chancellor, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia 741252, W.B.; Vice-Chancellor’s Bungalow, BCKV Campus, Mohanpur, Nadia 741252, W.B.; [Tel: Cell: 9811733465; Email: patraak@gmail.com; vc@bckv.edu.in]