National Academy of Agricultural Sciences
NASC Complex, Dev Prakash Shastry Marg
New Delhi - 110 012, INDIA
(Est. 1990)

Phone: 25846051-52, 25841253; Fax: (011) 25846054
E-mail: naas@vsnl.com
Web site: www.naasindia.org

A Treasure of Knowledge in the Field of Agricultural Sciences in India  - A brief write-up on the Academy

   
  Introduction | Concept | History | Constitution and Governance of Academy | Evolution | Awareness Programmes and Information Dissemination Mechanism | Impact of Academy’s Work | New Initiatives | Further Details & Contact |  
 
 
   

 

Introduction

The National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), established in 1990, is among the youngest of the Science Academies of India. It owes its origin to the vision of the late Dr. B. P. Pal, FRS. The Academy focuses on the broad field of agricultural sciences including crop husbandry, animal husbandry, fisheries, agroforestry and interface between agriculture and agro-industry. The Academy’s role is to provide a forum to Agricultural Scientists to deliberate on important issues of agricultural research, education and extension and present views of the scientific community as policy inputs to planners, decision/opinion makers at various levels. To achieve this, the Academy organizes and supports national and international congresses, conferences, seminars, symposia, workshops and brainstorming sessions on critical issues in the field of agricultural sciences. The Academy accords recognition to scientists at various levels, and encourages cutting edge research in different fields of agricultural sciences. In 2001, the Academy instituted a scheme of NAAS-TATA Research Fellowships for Young Scientists (with one for the North East Region) with support from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. In 2003, ‘Associateship’ of the Academy was introduced for Young Scientists.

The Academy has emerged as a vibrant national level body devoted to agricultural sciences. It has organized several programmes of national and international importance in critical areas. The Fellows of the Academy, recognized for their contributions to science, include distinguished personalities in the field of Agriculture and Allied Sciences, both from India and abroad. "Corporate Fellowship" is attracting involvement of Industry in supporting the activities of the Academy. In the year 2002, the Academy has also introduced a scheme for "Corporate Membership" to provide wider participation of the corporate sector.

Concept

Among various definitions for “Academy”, the one pertains to the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences is “A Society of learned persons united for advancement of sciences (in our case whole gamut of agricultural sciences) for the welfare of mankind. Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Academy of Engineering, in India, National Academy of Sciences, USA and the Royal Society in UK are the examples of the other Academies of this kind world over. These are different from professional societies whose endeavour is stimulating and guiding study of any particular branch of science.

History

The NAAS was founded in 1990 at New Delhi based on the support of a great visionary, Dr. B. P. Pal the then President of FISAST (Federation of Indian Societies of Agricultural Science & Technology). It was in mid-1988 when Dr. M. S. Swaminathan initiated the idea of forming a National Academy of Agricultural Sciences in a meeting with Prof. S. K. Sinha and Prof. Anupam Varma. Prof. Sinha contacted various Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) having interest in agriculture, for their views on the possibility of formation of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. As expected, the response was almost unanimous for the need to have such an Academy.  First meeting of the Fellows of INSA interested in the formation of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences was held on January 3, 1989 at Madurai, in the Agricultural Science Section of the 76th Session of Indian Science Congress. The meeting recommended the formation of a National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Thus the foundation of the Academy with a perceived need to unify the agricultural scientists community, to serve as an enabling Institution to voice policies, and help to evolve procedures and services for professional development of Agricultural Sciences in the country, was laid.

Constitution and Governance of the Academy

v      Eminent agricultural scientists identified through a process of objective selection form the pool of talent in the Academy who are recognized as Fellows (at present 445) at senior level and Associates (at present 25) at junior level. Fellowship of the Academy is a coveted Academic honour and one remains Fellow of the Academy through out his life once elected. The quality peer review followed for election of Fellows and transparency in selection process has highlighted the Academic character of the Academy.

v      Disciplinary excellence and an enlightened broader view of National requirements are the twin pillars that support research towards attaining deeper understanding of science and meeting relevant developmental objectives. Since its inception on June 5, 1990 the Academy has endevoured to fulfill these requirements through the instrumentality of the Fellowship

v      Thus recognized cream of talent in agricultural sciences work in the Academy at equal level irrespective of their official position in their respective organizations where they are working. The main objective of these eminent people spread across all the disciplines in Agricultural Sciences is to acquire recognition to the Academy as credible think tank to provide views of scientific community on all agriculture policy related issues, to encourage talent and promote excellence in science, making it a powerful instrument for the growth of economy with vibrant farm sector.

v      The Academy has now grown having its Fellowship presence in the whole National Agricultural Research System (NARS) in India and in institutions abroad, cutting across ICAR Institutes (150 Fellows), SAUs (125 Fellows), CG Centres, NGOs and Industry put together (170 Fellows).

v      The Fellowship is involved in Academy in the form of General Body which consists of entire fellowship, elected Executive Council with 23 members who are responsible for decision making on behalf of Fellowship and Statutory Committees for day to day decisions. Besides this the Fellows of the Academy are organized into 5 regional Chapters, North, East, West, South and North-East parts of India. The regional chapters make suggestions with regard to policies and problems concerning their areas of operation and also of National importance.

v      The Executive Council is assisted by a lean Secretariat headed by the Executive Secretary and is situated in the ultra-modern NASC Complex, Pusa, New Delhi. The Secretariat is equipped with state-of-the-art office, meeting facilities and enabling procedures (rules and regulations) to facilitate high profile multi-facet activities of the Academy.

Evolution

v      The Academy started its activities with organization of a mega event – 1st Agricultural Science Congress in 1992 in IARI Campus which was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Late Shri P. V. Narasimha Rao. The purpose of the Congress is manifold encompassing the ideas for public understanding of agricultural sciences and political understanding of agricultural sciences. Starting with this the Academy organized 8 Congresses so far in different parts of the country and addressed issues specific to the region, involving experts and stakeholders.

v      Few other major International events organized by Academy include:

¨       II International Crop Science Congress in 1996

¨       88th Session of Indian Science Congress in 2001

¨       II International Rice Congress in 2006

The above were attended by world renowned personalities in science and represented by over 100 countries across the world.

v      The above events while serving the scientific purpose for which they were organized, they also gave visibility to the Academy and helped developing a strong base for its presence.

v      Providing policy inputs to planners at various levels, using their vast experience in agricultural sciences is the core activity of the Academy with which the Fellowship is deeply involved. For this the Academy adopted a brainstorming/workshop sessions mode of consultations involving Fellows, experts, and implementing agencies and started producing and disseminating Policy Papers on the basis of recommendations emanated from these deliberations. The Academy has produced 39 Policy Papers so far, few of the Policy Papers were converted into action plans by various agencies for implementation as well.

v      As a result of the above initiative, Academy’s advice was being sought by various Research Agencies, Govt. Departments, State Govt., Foreign Govt.

v      The Academy also seeks close collaboration with similar organizations world over in the form of forging linkages by signing bilateral MOUs. In the process, the Academy entered into MOUs with 9 Academies world over and is a Member of Third World Network of Scientific Organizations (TWNSO), Italy. These MOUs are signed with the intention to enable exchange of information and scientists. Other avenues of cooperation are also being explored. Indo-Us-Pak tripartite Academies initiative in biotechnology, close collaboration with Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, helping Govt. of Afghanistan for establishment of Afghanistan Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Kabul are few recent initiatives in this direction. Delegation of NAAS also visited Senegal, France, Beijing, Islamabad, Kabul in this connection.

v      The Academy is thus constantly moving forward towards its initially perceived goal of encouraging excellence in science and providing expert advice on critical issues of National Importance, exchange of information so on a so forth.

Awareness Programmes and Information Dissemination Mechanism

v      A programme of Public Lectures by subject matter specialists in different areas was initiated by the Academy. This gave an opportunity to scientists of different disciplines to acquaint themselves with latest developments in different fields.

v      The Academy’s interactive web site is a great source of information and window of Academy activities across the world. The web site is linked with Sci.Dev.net – the world’s leading electronic source of free news, views and analysis about science, technology, innovation and development in developing countries.

v      The Academy Secretariat maintains a well stocked library with quality publications authored by the Fellowship. The documentation service “Agricultural News” is a News Paper clippings compilation of news items pertaining to Agricultural Research, Education and Extension. Over 10 National dailies, magazines are scanned for the purpose every day.

Impact of Academy’s Work

v      Having said the above, it is pertinent to mention that during the past 17 years of its existence, the activities of Academy which have made a very strong impact on the National Agricultural Research System are as under:

¨       The Academy evolved objective criteria for recognizing talent in the field of agricultural sciences, has sent very strong signals through the entire system and has became a well respected assessment model to assess the output of scientists and institutes in the domain of Agricultural Sciences in India.

¨       The Academy evaluated Journal rating system made every body aware of relative merit of journals relevant to agricultural sciences and guided the scientists and professionals societies alike to improve their quality of research and publication of research papers.

¨       The Academy’s recommendation made in 5th Agricultural Science Congress, held at Guwahati for digging borewells in Brahmaputra river basin, had directly yielded results in terms of higher production of rice in Assam.

¨       Academy recommendations on National Horticulture Mission, Evaluation of DARE/ICAR Plan Schemes, Action Plan for Harnessing and Management of Water Resources for enhancing agricultural productivity in Eastern Region, Action Plan on Conservation, Management and use of Agro Bio-diversity, Vision 2020 document for Primary Sector Development in the North East are actively under consideration with the respective Govt. Departments for including in their respective plans and programmes.

New Initiatives

v      The Academy has now embarked on its active mode to assume proactive role to outreach the needy at the grass root level. First initiative in this direction is a project undertaken currently in collaboration with TATA Trusts in “Transforming Agriculture in Bihar: Roadmap to a New Fertile Crescent”.