View source for Dilbagh Singh Athwal

{{Short description|An Indian geneticist, plant breeder and agriculturist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Dilbagh Singh Athwal
| image              = Dilbagh Singh Athwal.jpg
| image_size         = 220px
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|df=yes|1928|10|12}}
| birth_place        = India
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2017|5|14|1928|10|12}}
| death_place        = [[New Jersey]],<ref name=HTObit /> United States
| occupation         = Plant breeder<br>Agriculturist<br>Geneticist
| awards             = [[Padma Bhushan]]<br>[[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]]
| known for          = New varieties of wheat and rice
}}

'''Dilbagh Singh Athwal''' (12 October 1928 – 14 May 2017) was an Indian geneticist, plant breeder and agriculturist, known to have conducted pioneering research in [[plant breeding]].<ref name="PAU to publish biographies of legendary scientists">{{cite web | url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/ludhiana/education/pau-to-publish-biographies-of-legendary-scientists/166042.html | title=PAU to publish biographies of legendary scientists | publisher=Tribune India | date=3 December 2015 | access-date=24 April 2016}}</ref> He was a professor and the Head of the Department of Plant Breeding at [[Punjab Agricultural University]] and an associate of [[Norman Borlaug]], the renowned biologist and [[Nobel Laureate]],<ref name="New Horizons in Wheat Production">{{cite web | url=http://libcatalog.cimmyt.org/download/borlaug/669.pdf | title=New Horizons in Wheat Production | publisher=CIMMYT | date=2016 | access-date=24 April 2016 | archive-date=9 May 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509143205/http://libcatalog.cimmyt.org/download/borlaug/669.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref> with whom he has collaborated for the introduction of high-yielding dwarf varieties of wheat.<ref>{{cite book|title=Wheat, barley, and triticale cultivars: A list of publications in which national scientists have noted the cooperation or germplasm they received from CIMMYT|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FbNQiG37DXsC&pg=PA32|year=1997|publisher=CIMMYT|isbn=978-970-648-055-2|pages=32–}}</ref> 

Popularly known as '''Father of Wheat Revolution''', he was instrumental in developing ‘PV 18’ in 1966 and the most popular amber grained wheat variety ‘Kalyansona’ in 1967.<ref name=HTObit>{{cite news | url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/father-of-wheat-revolution-ds-athwal-passes-away/story-ZrvUSsethoakAa3DZl9V1J.html | title='Father of Wheat Revolution' DS Athwal passes away | date=15 May 2017 | newspaper=Hindustan Times | access-date=22 March 2018 }}</ref> In 1967, he joined [[International Rice Research Institute]]'s management team and ultimately served as the Institute's first deputy director general.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://irri.org/about-us/our-people/management/57-publications?start=88|title = Our People}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/father-of-wheat-revolution-ds-athwal-dies-in-usa/articleshow/58685056.cms |title=Archived copy |access-date=16 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170527055332/http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/father-of-wheat-revolution-ds-athwal-dies-in-usa/articleshow/58685056.cms |archive-date=27 May 2017 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> His research has also returned several innovations in rice breeding<ref name="Rockwood2001">{{cite book|author=Walter G. Rockwood|title=Rice Research and Production in the 21st Century: Symposium Honoring Robert F. Chandler, Jr|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dw3o-b7TdwEC&pg=PA130|year=2001|publisher=Int. Rice Res. Inst.|isbn=978-971-22-0163-9|pages=130–}}</ref> and his body of work has been documented in a number of books and articles published in peer reviewed journals.<ref name="Kaul2012">{{cite book|author=Mohan L.H. Kaul|title=Male Sterility in Higher Plants|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aCX7CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA888|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-642-83139-3|pages=888–}}</ref><ref name="SinghSingh2005">{{cite book|author1=Dhan Pal Singh|author2=Arti Singh|title=Disease and Insect Resistance in Plants|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ByWGoE_ifs4C&pg=PA325|year=2005|publisher=Science Publishers|isbn=978-1-57808-412-8|pages=325–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Advances in Agronomy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YR6PH_EhpgsC&pg=PA87|year=1968|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-08-056333-6|pages=87–}}</ref> The [[University of Sydney]] conferred the degree of Doctor of Philosophy on him in 1955 for his contributions to agriculture<ref name="Doctors of Philosophy">{{cite web | url=http://calendararchive.usyd.edu.au/Calendar/1970_supp/PDF/1970-A%20-%200432.pdf | title=Doctors of Philosophy | publisher=University of Sydney | date=2016 | access-date=24 April 2016}}</ref> and, in 1964, he received [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]] of the [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]], the highest Indian award in the Science category.<ref name="Brief Profile of the Awardee">{{cite web | url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/content/Detail.aspx?AID=294 | title=Brief Profile of the Awardee | publisher=Council of Scientific and Industrial Research | date=2016 | access-date=24 April 2016}}</ref><ref name="HTObit" /> The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the [[Padma Bhushan]], in 1975, for his contributions to biological science.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web |url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2016 |access-date=3 January 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 }}</ref>

He died in New Jersey on 14 May 2017.<ref name=HTObit />

== See also ==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Punjab Agricultural University]]
* [[Norman Borlaug]]
* [[International Rice Research Institute]]
{{div col end}}
{{portal|India|Science}}

== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1970–79}}
{{SSBPST recipients in Biological Science}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athwal, Dilbagh Singh}}
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Biological Science]]
[[Category:Indian agriculturalists]]
[[Category:Indian geneticists]]
[[Category:Plant breeding]]
[[Category:Indian botanical writers]]
[[Category:Punjab Agricultural University faculty]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian biologists]]


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{{India-scientist-stub}}