Virender Lal Chopra (9 August 1936 – 18 April 2020) was an Indian biotechnologist, geneticist, agriculturalist and a director-general of the

Indian Council of Agricultural Research The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is an autonomous body responsible for co-ordinating agricultural education and research in India. It reports to the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture. Th ...

(ICAR), known to have contributed to the development of wheat production in India. He was the chancellor of

Central University of Kerala Central University of Kerala (CUK) is one of the 15 central universities established under ''The Central Universities Act, 2009'' (Act No.25 of 2009) by the Parliament of India. The university is seated in Kasaragod, the northernmost distr ...

, a Chancellor of the

Central Agricultural University Central Agricultural University is an agricultural university at Lamphelpat, Imphal in the Indian state of Manipur. The Central Agricultural University was established by an act of Parliament, the Central Agricultural University Act 1992 (No.4 ...

Imphal Imphal ( Meitei pronunciation: /im.pʰal/; English pronunciation: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (also known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the fo ...

and a member of the Planning Commission of India. An elected fellow of several science academies such as

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi for Indian scientists in all branches of science and technology. In August 2019, Dr. Chandrima Shaha was appointed as the president of Indian National Science Academ ...

National Academy of Agricultural Sciences The National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) is a Government of India funded agency, established in 1990, is a research platform in the fields of crop husbandry, animal husbandry, fisheries and agro-forestry. It acts as a research base for ...

National Academy of Sciences, India The National Academy of Sciences, India, established in 1930, is the oldest science academy in India. It is located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Prof. Meghnad Saha was the founder president. Fellows *Suddhasatwa Basu * Sudha Bhattacharya * Ch ...

European Academy of Sciences and Arts The European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA, la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Europaea) is a transnational and interdisciplinary network, connecting about 2,000 recommended scientists and artists worldwide, including 37 Nobel Prize laure ...

and

The World Academy of Sciences The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) is a merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting 1,000 scientists in some 70 countries. Its principal aim is to promote scientific capacity and excellence for sustainable devel ...

(TWAS), he was a recipient of a number of honors including

Borlaug Award The Borlaug Award is an award recognition conferred by a fertilizer company, Coromandel International, for outstanding Indian people, Indian scientists for their research and contributions in the field of agriculture and environment. The award w ...

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

World Food Day Award and

Om Prakash Bhasin Award Om Prakash Bhasin Award for Science and Technology is an Indian award, instituted in 1985 to recognize excellence in the areas of science and technology. The award, given individually or collectively to a group, is annual in cycle and carries a p ...

. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, in 1985, for his contributions to agricultural science.

Biography

Virender Lal Chopra was born on 9 August 1936 at

Adhwal Adhwal is a village located at Adyala road near Rawalpindi, in the Punjab, Pakistan. It is also spelt as Adhwal and Adhwaal. It is located in the Pothohar Plateau near the Soan River. The first census after the Partition of India in 1952 lists A ...

, a small village in the periphery of

Rawal Pindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and List of cities in Punjab, P ...

in West Punjab of the

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

to Harbans Lal and Sukhwanti, and moving to Delhi, he did his early schooling at Ramjas School, Delhi. After securing his graduate degree with honours in agricultural science from Central College of Agriculture, Delhi in 1955 and following it up with an associateship at the

Indian Agricultural Research Institute The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), commonly known as the Pusa Institute, is India's national institute for agricultural research, education and extension. The name Pusa Institute is derived from the fact that the institute was or ...

(IARI) during 1955–57, he proceeded to the Institute of Genetics,

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

on a senior Humboldt scholarship. Subsequently, he shifted his base to Edinburgh in 1964 and secured a doctoral degree (PhD) in

Genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

from the Institute of Genetics of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in 1967, presenting the thesis ''"Tests for genetic effects of irradiated or chemically treated media in Drosophila and micro-organisms"''. Chopra's career took prominence when he became the director of

(IARI) in 1979 which was his first major position where he was in charge of the planning and management of research in genetics and biotechnology. He stayed at the post for one year before turning to academics as the professor of genetics at the same institution, a post he held till 1985 when he moved to National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology as a Professor of Eminence and the director of the centre. Simultaneously he served as a member of the scientific advisory committee to the Prime Minister of India from 1986 to 1990. He moved to Vietnam in 1990 as the chief technical adviser to the Government of Vietnam on a

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

(FAO) assignment which lasted 15 months. It was during this period, he assisted the Vietnam government in the establishment of the Agriculture Genetics Institute (AGI) in Hanoi. In 1992, the Government of India appointed him a secretary with the responsibility of the director-general of the

(ICAR), the apex agency in India for agricultural education and research. After his retirement from the ICAR in 1994, he continued his association with the agency as its B. P. Pal National Professor and in 2004, he was appointed as a member of the science council of the

Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research CGIAR (formerly the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) is a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security. CGIAR research aims to reduce rural poverty, increase food ...

(CGIAR), the largest research entity run on public funding in agriculture in the world. At CGIAR, he served as a member of several committees and boards of the member organizations and as its Regional Representative for Asia. During this period, he was also a member of the now-defunct Planning Commission of India, headed by

Montek Singh Ahluwalia Montek Singh Ahluwalia (born 24 November 1943) is an Indian economist and civil servant who was the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India, a position which carried the rank of a Cabinet Minister. He tendered his resignation for t ...

. Chopra died on April 18, 2020 in New Delhi.

Positions and publications

Chopra served as the president of the International Genetics Federation from 1983 to 1988. He was a founder member of the Executive council of the

and served as its president, secretary and vice-president during different tenures and was associated with the

in various capacities. He was a member of many trustee boards,

MS Swaminathan Research Foundation The M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) is a nonprofit NGO trust based in Chennai, India. It develops and promotes strategies for economic growth that directly target increased employment of poor women in rural areas. Their methods maxi ...

, Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals Research Foundation, Tea Research Association and Centre for Advancement of Sustainable Agriculture, counting among non governmental organizations and

International Rice Research Institute The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is an international agricultural research and training organization with its headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, in the Philippines, and offices in seventeen countries. IRRI is known for its wor ...

(IRRI),

International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is an international organization which conducts agricultural research for rural development, headquartered in Patancheru (Hyderabad, Telangana, India) with several r ...

(ICRISAT) and

International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (known - even in English - by its Spanish acronym CIMMYT for ''Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo'') is a non-profit research-for-development organization that develops im ...

(CYMMIT) featuring among the global research organizations. He was also a member of the Science Council of the

Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research CGIAR (formerly the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) is a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security. CGIAR research aims to reduce rural poverty, increase food ...

and a vice chairman (1989) of the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources, the present-day

Bioversity International Bioversity International is a global research-for-development organization that delivers scientific evidence, management practices and policy options to use and safeguard agricultural biodiversity to attain global food and nutrition security, wor ...

. He was the chancellor of the

, appointed to the position in 2012. Chopra was the author of many books and articles on plant breeding and genetics. ''Plant Breeding: Theory and Practice'', ''Handbook of Industrial Crops'', ''Breeding Field Crops'' and ''Search for New Genes'' are some of the notable books, the last one was co-written by

Benjamin Peary Pal Benjamin Peary Pal or B. P. Pal FRS (26 May 1906 – 14 September 1989) was an Indian plant breeder and agronomist who served as a director of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in Delhi and as the first Director General of the Indian C ...

and R. P. Sharma. ''Approaches for Incorporating Drought and Salinity Resistance in Crop Plants'', ''Technologies for Livelihood Enhancement'', ''Genetics: Applied genetics'', and ''Applied Plant Biotechnology'' are some of his other books. He presented papers at many science and agricultural conferences; ''Agricultural Biotechnology'' at the 2nd Asia Pacific Conference and ''Genetics, new frontiers'' at the XV International Congress of Genetics are two such papers.

Awards and honors

Virender Chopra was awarded the

of the Coromandel Fertilisers in 1983. The Government of India included him in the Republic Day Honours list for the civilian award of the

in 1985 and he was selected for the

Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group based in India. History Established in 1927, on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi by Indian businessman G.D. Birla an ...

Award in 1986. The next year, he received two awards,

and Honor Summus Medal of the Watumull Foundation, USA. He was honored by

Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture & Technology (CSAUA&T) is an agricultural university at Kanpur in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is named after the Indian revolutionary Chandrashekhar Azad. Besides Kanpur, it also has con ...

and

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...

with the degree of Doctor of Science (DSc -

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

), both the honors reaching him in 1988. The

(INSA) awarded him their Silver Jubilee Commemoration Medal in 1991, INSA would award him again with the Aryabhatta Medal in 2002. He received the World Food Day Award of the

in 1993, Birbal Sahni Birth Centenary Award of the

Indian Science Congress Association Indian Science Congress Association(ISCA) is a premier scientific organisation of India with headquarters at Kolkata, West Bengal. The association started in the year 1914 in Kolkata and it meets annually in the first week of January. It has a ...

in 1997 and the

(NAAS) awarded him the Dr. B. P. Pal Award in 2002. Chopra was an elected fellow of the several science academies in India and abroad. The

(IAS) was the first to elect him in 1982, followed by the

(INSA) in 1984. The

(NASI) enrolled him as an elected fellow in 1988, with

(TWAS) following suit in 1989 and the

in 1990. Besides,

and

, four other universities honored him with honorary doctorates. He was one among the Indian scientists featured in the list of ''role model scientists'' in ''Reference Curve for Indian Role Model Scientists'', a scientific study published in 2001 on the scientists and their work.

Selected bibliography

* * * * * * * * * *

Biography

Positions and publications

Awards and honors

Selected bibliography

See also

References

Further reading