Dr. Prem Lal Gautam

Born on 12 December 1947, Dr. Prem Lal Gautam took his agricultural degree from Agricultural College, Solan (HP) in 1968, and his M.Sc. (1970) and Ph.D. (1974) in Genetics from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.

He began his service career on 16 September 1974 as Assistant Professor of Plant Breeding at G.B. Pant University, Pantnagar, and rose there through Associate Professor of Plant Breeding, Associate Director of the Crop Research Centre and Joint Director / Associate Dean of the Hill Campus at Ranichauri — before returning, years later, as its Vice-Chancellor.

Between those two points he held some of the most consequential offices in Indian agriculture. He was Chairperson of the Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers’ Rights Authority, New Delhi, under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, and Chairman of the National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai, under the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change — the latter in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India. He served as Deputy Director General (Crop Science) at ICAR, National Director of the ICAR-NATP Project, and Director of the ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources. He was Dean of the College of Forestry at Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, Solan; Managing Director of the Uttarakhand Seeds & Terai Development Corporation, Pantnagar; Chairman of the Advisory Committee of Patanjali University, Haridwar; and Vice-Chancellor of Career Point University, Hamirpur.

He is presently Chancellor of Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa-Samastipur, Bihar; honorary Pro-Chancellor of Career Point University, Hamirpur; Chairman of Shivshakti School, Nihari, Ghumarwin, Bilaspur; and Chief Patron of the Society for Community Mobilization for Sustainable Development.

As a scientist he is associated with the development of twelve improved crop varieties — wheat, foxtail millet, soybean, ricebean, amaranth and buckwheat — and the registration of two germplasm accessions of rice. He played an important part in redefining basmati rice in the national interest in the light of new breeding tools and the IPR regime. Under his leadership India’s first postgraduate programme in Plant Genetic Resources was implemented at IARI in partnership with NBPGR. He initiated the registration of plant germplasm in India, and was associated with the drafting and implementation of the Biological Diversity and Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers’ Rights bills.

Internationally, he served on Indian delegations to the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. He was among the champions of the inclusion of Farmers’ Rights in the ITPGRFA, and of the option for country-parties to place a moratorium on the terminator gene under the Cartagena Biosafety Protocol. He co-chaired the Treaty’s Fifth Session, and served 2014–18 as the Asian Region’s nominated member on the Executive Board of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, Germany.