HK Chaudhry takes over as VC of agri university

Our Correspondent

Palampur, August 25

HK Chaudhry took over as the new Vice Chancellor of CSK HP Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur, on Monday evening.

While addressing the teaching and non-teaching employees, Chaudhry said he would try to maintain the highest standards and dignity of the institution. He said special efforts would be made to improve the ranking of the university.

He said he would ensure that latest research and techniques are adopted in the field.

Having around three decades of experience in research and teaching, Chaudhry was working as Professor and Head, Departments of Genetics & Plant Breeding and Agricultural Biotechnology, at the university prior to this new assignment. He has 31 years of experience in chromosome engineering and molecular breeding and has developed 20 important crop varieties. He is credited for developing the first winter wheat variety (Saptdhara) and the first doubled haploid wheat variety (Him Pratham) of the country.

He has handled 20 research projects, including four international projects. He has been a leader for 16 national projects in biotechnology sponsored by the Centre. He has guided 34 scholars along with 214 trainees from various reputed institutes. He has 164 publications to his credit.

He is a recipient of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Young Scientist Award, ‘Prerna Strot Samman Puraskar’ (2008-09) of the state government. He has been also been an honorary visiting professor at the Osaka Kyoiku University in Japan.