Global award for Indian scientist

Hyderabad, Jan 12 (UNI) Dr Mannava V K Sivakumar, Chief of the Agricultural Meteorology Division in the World Meteorological Organization in Geneva (Switzerland), has been elected as a Corresponding Academician of the Academy of Georgofili of Italy.

Dr Sivakumar, a native of Hyderabad, was only the second national from India to be elected to the Academy after Prof M S Swaminathan, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University sources here said.

Dr Sivakumar obtained his Doctorate in Agricultural Climatology in 1977 from the lowa State University and carried out Agroclimatology Research at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

At ICRISAT, he occupied successively the positions of Principal Agroclimatologist, team leader of the Resource Management Programme and the Director of the Soils and Agroclimatology Division.

He has been the Chief of the Agricultural Meteorology Division of WMO since 1997.

Author of over 200 publications, Dr Sivakumar received the ''Young Scientist Award'' and the Science Academy Medal from the Indian national Science Academy in 1983 and the Fertilizer Association of India Award in 1985 for the best paper published in 1984-85.

He was elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural sciences of India (1992), Fellow of the Indian Meteorological society (2000), Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy (2201) and Member of the Royal Academy of Overseas sciences of Belgium (2003).

Dr Sivakumar is currently serving as the Associate Editor-in-Chief of the Sustainability Science Journal and also a member of the Editorial Board of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Journal.

The Award was presented to him at Italy last week.

UNI