Himanshu Pathak appointed Director-General Designate of ICRISAT

The Governing Board of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat) has appointed Himanshu Pathak as the Director -General Designate of the institute. 

Pathak, who currently serves as Union Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), will assume his role next year.

He will succeed Jacqueline Hughes to become the first Indian to head the 52-year-old institute located at Patancheru near Hyderabad. He will be the second Indian to head a Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centres (CGIAR) institute after M S Swaminathan, who led the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).  

‘Has strategic vision’

“His strategic vision and proven leadership will be instrumental as Icrisat confronts the challenges of expanding drylands and drives forward its mission to build resilient, sustainable agri-food systems for the most vulnerable across Asia, Africa, and beyond,” Governing Board Chair Prabhu Pingali, said here in a statement on Monday.

“Under Pathak’s guidance, we are confident that Icrisat will continue to build powerful new alliances and set new benchmarks in agricultural innovation and global food security,” he said.

The board acknowledged the services of the outgoing D-G Jacqueline d’ Arros Hughes.