Dr Punyavrat Suvimalendu Pandey
Vice-Chancellor
Dr. Punyavrat Suvimalendu Pandey joined as Vice Chancellor of Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Samastipur on 26th September 2022. Dr. Pandey was born on 13th February 1964 in a small village, Rahathua of Buxar (Bihar). Before joining as Vice Chancellor, Dr. Pandey was serving as Assistant Director General (Education Planning & Home Science; and Education Quality Assurance and Reforms) at Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi. Prior to this Dr. Pandey, who belongs to the 1986 batch of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), served in various capacities as an excellent scientist and research manager with ICAR starting as Scientist at National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM), Hyderabad to National Coordinator of Organisation and Management Component of National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) at ICAR headquarters, New Delhi. He did his graduation from Science College, Patna and M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the prestigious ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi.
Dr. Pandey has more than 30 years of experience in Agricultural Research and Education where he successfully planned and executed several policies for ensuring quality education. He framed policies for quality capacity development at Higher Agricultural Education level including Promotion of Access, Equity, Relevance, Quality and Capacity Building.
The central sector scheme “Strengthening and development of higher agricultural education in India” of Agricultural Education Division of ICAR including Library Strengthening, Niche Area of Excellence, Student READY programmes of the council were planned and monitored by Dr. Pandey. Several reforms and innovations made in the NARS like Supercomputing Facility of Bioinformatics Grid, Agropedia- Knowledge Management Platform, and Consortium for e-Resources in Agriculture (CeRA), Strengthening of Digital Library, e-GRANTH, e-Courses and e-Publishing etc. are at his credit. Dr. Pandey is a well known expert in the area of ICT in Agriculture.
While serving as National Coordinator of the Organization and Management Component of the World Bank sponsored National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) during 2011-2015, twenty-two Incubation and Agri-Business Planning and Development Centers (IABPDC) were established to encourage entrepreneurship in Agricultural Universities and ICAR institutes. These efforts of Dr. Pandey later set the tone for establishment of Agri Start-ups in India.
Before joining as National Coordinator, Dr. Pandey worked as Principal Scientist in the Simulation and Informatics division of the prestigious IARI, New Delhi. Dr. Pandey is also a Faculty Member of Bioinformatics at IARI.
Dr. Pandey is also the proud recipient of several Awards and Honours including the prestigious Gold Medal of IARI for his outstanding academic performance. He has published more than 120 research papers in national and international journals along with several articles, conference proceedings, technical reports, manuals and book chapters on issues relating to agricultural research and education, ICT in agriculture, agribusiness entrepreneurship, experiential learning and women empowerment. He has been Reviewers of various journals and Members of Editorial Board of several Scientific Journals. In addition, he has guided several students for their degree programme.
Dr. Pandey has been Member of various High-Powered Committees and Professional Bodies including Academic Council of National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal; Navsari Agriculture University, Navsari; Junagadh Agriculture University, Junagadh; and Research Advisory Council of several ICAR institutes. Presently Dr. Pandey also served as Member of Board of Management of University of Agriculture Sciences, Dharwad; University of Agriculture Sciences, Bangalore; Bihar Agriculture University, Sabour; Bihar Animal Science University, Patna; Birsa Agriculture University, Ranchi; Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut; and University of Agriculture, Jodhpur. More than 250 projects in the area of Research and development, Education, Innovation, and Livelihood enhancement have been completed under the leadership of Dr. Pandey.
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