Int’l research center springs back to life, thanks to Pinoy scientist

Former Agriculture Secretary William Dar was reappointed recently as director-general of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) based in Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Considered as the first Filipino to head a major international research agen-cy, Dar will serve a second five-year term starting Jan-uary 2005. His initial stint as ICRISAT chief commenced in January 2000, after ser-ving 11 months as acting secretary of the Department of Agriculture and six months as Presidential adviser for rural development during the Estrada administration.

Tasked to develop and promote crop varieties and technologies among far-mers in semi-arid areas in Asia and Africa, ICRISAT is among the 15 "Future Harvest Centers" — along with the Los Baños-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) — funded by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

A former "Ten Outstan-ding Young Men (TOYM) of the Philippines" awardee, Dar took over the reins of ICRISAT when it was facing turbulent times, characte-rized by a financial slump, low staff morale, unfocused research objectives, donor fatigue, and high turnover of senior officials.

Now, four years later, ICRISAT is in the "pink of health," and ranks second behind IRRI in terms of financial condition and stability, said Dar, who was recently in the country to speak at international mee-tings in Manila and Laguna.

Last year, ICRISAT had a surplus of more than $500,000 from its average annual budget of $22 million. Dar’s personal goal this year is to secure more funds, to the tune of $30 million.

"I can modestly say that ICRISAT has completely turned over a new leaf, and is once more a leading agri-cultural research center, benefiting millions of far-mers and their families in the dry tropics of Asia and Africa," said Dar, who holds a doctorate degree in horti-culture at UP Los Baños.

Dr. Uzo Mokwunye, chairman of ICRISAT governing board, described Dar thus: "If I did not know Dr. William Dar any better, I would declare that he has come of age as ICRISAT director general. But each time one decides that he has reached the pinnacle, he raises the bar and continues to grow and metamorphose with the ever-evolving institute that he leads."

"Since Dr. Dar’s appoint-ment, things have turned around. Morale has gone up, discipline is in place, and more importantly funding is increasing," said Dr. Said Silim, ICRISAT regional representative for eastern and southern Africa.

Dar has a simple, yet ef-fective management style. He believes that everybody must do the right things, the right way. His 10-point for-mula or recipe for effective leadership includes: chart a clear vision, communicate it, get qualified staff, build a strong team, make sound decisions and take risks, ad-mit mistakes, be trustworthy, humble yet firm, never give up, and have a sense of humor.

He said ICRISAT’s trans-formation did not come easy. "After much soul-searching and cleansing, we have put in place a new vision and mission," Dar noted.

"We have redefined our research strategies, with emphasis on demand-driven and participatory approa-ches. We are now exploiting biotechnology, marker-assis-ted breeding, integrated pest and disease management, natural resource manage-ment, and information and communication technology. We have also explored avenues for generating income such as seed multiplication, biomass production, and development of fruit orchards, among others. All this means doing science with a human face."

Further, ICRISAT has fostered strong ties with the host country, particularly with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and has established mutual partnerships with the private sector such as Tata Trust and Sehgal Foun-dation.

As a result, ICRISAT’s funding from ICAR and the Government of Andhra Pradesh has increased significantly in recent years. Currently, it has 23 part-nership projects with ICAR in genetics, crop improve-ment, natural resource management, socio-econo-mics and policy, and sha-ring of information resour-ces.

Currently, ICRISAT’s focus in Asia is on biotech-nology and crop improve-ment; and in Africa, on market-driven integrated genetic and natural re-source management.

In the last two years, ICRISAT has initiated the field trials of two transgenic crops: groundnut resistant to Indian peanut clump virus; and pigeon pea resis-tant to pod borer. It is also collaborating with private seed companies to employ advances in biotechnology.

As part of its initiative in Asia, ICRISAT last year signed a memorandum of understanding with the Andhra Pradesh Govern-ment to establish an Agri-Biotech Park. Another is an "Agri-Business Incubator," a project that tests deve-loped technologies before these are commercialized. It was initiated and funded by India’s Department of Science and Technology.

Since year 2000, ICRI-SAT has received dozens of awards, reflecting its excel-lence and relevance. These include the prestigious King Baudouin Award, which is given to a CGIAR Institute that achieves the most visible impact. ICRISAT has received the award thrice, an unsurpassed feat.