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  Professor Daljit Singh Virk has been awarded the prestigious Queen’s Honour of OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for services to poverty reduction abroad and education in Derby. This award is the third highest and approximates to the civilian award of Padma Bhushan by the Government of India. Dr Virk holder […]

 

Professor Daljit Singh Virk has been awarded the prestigious Queen’s Honour of OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for services to poverty reduction abroad and education in Derby. This award is the third highest and approximates to the civilian award of Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.

Dr Virk holder of PhD and DSc from Birmingham University is an internationally reputed biometrical geneticist and plant breeder. He was Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Research Fellow in Birmingham University before serving as Professor in Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India.

He joined Bangor University, UK in 1995 where he was an International Coordinator of DFID Plant Science Projects and collaborated with a number of universities in India and Africa, and with international research institutes such as IRRI and CIMMYT to improve the efficiency of plant breeding methods and to develop new varieties of crop plants, e.g. pearl millet, rice, maize, wheat. His pioneering research using client-oriented breeding and marker-assisted selection targeted smallholders in Asia and Africa for developing new seeds for marginal and rainfed areas. For instance, uniquely the new upland rice varieties (Ashoka 200F and Ashoka 228) developed by his team through client-oriented breeding have improved the food security and livelihoods of millions of rainfed and poor tribal farmers in eastern and western India.

Prof Virk’s contributions in advancing scientific knowledge in biometrical genetics and plant breeding are well recognized internationally. He has published more than 350 research papers and plant breeding books. He has bagged several honors and is a fellow of about half dozen renowned scientific academies, e.g. Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, National Academy of Sciences India, Royal Society of Biology.

In addition, he is involved in social work and has successfully led the opening of UK government funded Sikh faith free school-Akaal Primary School, Derby, UK.

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