Profile of Dr. Pratap Narain, Vice-Chancellor
Dr. Pratap Narain was born on January 1, 1945 and passed High School and Intermediate from UP Board, Allahabad in 1960 and 1962, respectively. He obtained degree of B.Sc. (Ag.) from Agra University in 1964 then did M.Sc. (Ag.) in 1966 and Ph.D. in Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry in 1969 from Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. Dr. Pratap Narain always passed with first division throughout the career and remained among top scorers. He went to University of Goettingen, West Germany to conduct Post Doctoral research from 1970-72 and learnt German at Goethe Institute.
Dr. Pratap Narain won several recognitions and fellowships during his studentship including Sunitibala Rai Choudhari gold Medal for highest grade point average during Ph.D. at IARI, New Delhi.
Dr. Narain started his professional career as Soil Scientist at RBS College, Bichpuri, Agra in 1973 and served as Scientist-2 (1975-81), Scientist-3 (1981-85) and Principal Scientist and Head (1986-99) at CSWCRTI, Dehradun. Dr. Narain served as Director, CAZRI, Jodhpur from 1999 to 2006 and after his superannuation in December, 2006 has joined as Vice-Chancellor of Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner on May 19, 2007.
Dr. Narain has published more than 80 research papers and articles in journals of international repute and has more than 30 popular articles, 50 symposium paper and 30 books/bulletins to his credit as author/editor.
Dr. Narain is an eminent Soil Scientist and an expert on Soil Conservation and Watershed Management. Agroforestry, Land Management in Humid Hilly tracks of Uttaranchal, rainfed south eastern Rajasthan and arid deserts of western Rajasthan are the areas in which Dr. Narain has extensively contributed as Scientist, research manager and administrator.
Dr. Narain is a widely traveled person. He has visited countries like West Germany, England, USA, Nepal, Egypt, UAE and Africa in pursuits of advanced research, specialized trainings and International meetings. He has also handled several international assignments and represented India during FAO workshop at Kuala Lumpur (1966), Hanoi (1997), Commonwealth Meeting at Kenya (1986) and several UNCCD conventions in recent past. Dr. Narain is on Board of Consultants of UNCCD, IWMI, Colombo and NRSA, Hyderabad.
Dr. Narain held offices of several professional bodies and societies including Indian Society of Soil and Water Conservationist and Arid Research Association of India. He has received several awards and honours for his contributions including coveted ICAR Award of Outstanding Multidisciplinary Team Research in Agriculture and Allied Sciences (1992-93), Doreen Masher Award (2004) and Brandis Prize of Indian Forester (2003).
Dr. Pratap Narain, with his wide and versatile experience as scientist and administrator is all willing to lead RAU, Bikaner as Vice-Chancellor, towards new horizons of progress in serving the Agricultural needs of state and country.
