Chandrakant T. Patel, (11 July 1917 – 25 December 1990) was a cotton scientist, who developed the first commercial cotton hybrid, known as Hybrid-4 (Sankar-4), in 1970, which was later cultivated commercially in the states of Gujarat and

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

Biography

Chandrakant T. Patel was born in Sarsa in the

Kaira Kaira or KAIRA may refer to: Places * Kaira (Lydia), a town of ancient Lydia, now in Turkey In India * Kheda, also known as Kaira, a town in Gujarat, India ** Kaira district ** Kaira Agency, a former administrative unit ** Kaira (Lok Sabha constitu ...

District of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

and obtained his MSc degree in Plant Breeding and Genetics from

Bombay University The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

in 1954. He is known as Father of Hybrid cotton. He worked at Surat Agricultural University and after two decades of continuous research efforts, successfully developed an

intraspecific hybrid In biology, a hybrid is the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different breeds, varieties, species or genera through sexual reproduction. Hybrids are not always intermediates between their parents (such as in ...

by crossing Gujarat-67 X American Nectariless variety, known as Hybrid-4 (H-4), which produced about 80 to 100 qt of Kapas/ha. Earlier research practices.carried out for nearly two decades helped to procure 213–304 kg.lint/ha. But the Hybrid-4 variety produced a record high of 6,918 kg kapas/ha (i.e.:2,352 kg lint/h] H-4 became highly successful in Central India, giving more than twice the yield compared to the parent varieties Gujarath-67. The fibre properties were excellent and its adaptability makes it still popular. This was the first successful hybrid of commercially cultivated cotton and was a turning point in the Indian Cotton Development programme. He devised many innovative methods in plant breeding, the most popular being the nursery-cum-pot irrigation and telephone system, for successful cotton cultivation. The Sardar Patel University in Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat, bestowed an honorary

D.Sc. Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

degree on him in 1978. Patel died in 1990 as result of a car accident.

Service

* Indo American Hybrid Co, as a Scientist. * Gujarat Agricultural University, Visiting Professor for Post Graduate Students and Cotton Specialist. * CIMF-CDRA's Research Co-Coordinator, * A Zonal Co-Ordinator, Gujarat Unit, for AICCI Project of ICAR. * M. S. Nath Agro, Research Foundation, Research Executive. * M/S Hoechst Seed Project Center, as a Cotton Specialist.

Honours

He was the recipient of awards and medals: * Hari Om Ashram Award. * FICCI Award, Tata Endowment Award, by Indian Merchants Chamber Award. * Federation of Gujarat Mills and Industry Award. * National Tonnage Club Award. * Hexamar Award, instituted by The Indian Society for Cotton Improvement (ISCI), Bombay. * Vasvik Industrial Research Award for Agricultural Science & Technology, 1977.

Sources

* Indian Society for Cotton Improvement (ISCI), Mumbai.

Biography

Service

Honours

Sources

References

Further reading