RP's Dar sets record in global agriculture R&D management

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna , Philippines  — A noted Filipino research administrator began this month his unprecedented third term as top official of an international research and development (R&D) institute, setting a record in global agriculture R&D management.

The governing board (GB) of the India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropic (ICRISAT) has appointed Dr. William D. Dar, former Agriculture acting secretary, as director general of the institution for another five-year term, starting from Jan. 1, 2009 to December 2014.

In offering Dr. Dar an unprecedented third term, ICRISAT’s policymaking has cited his significant accomplishments in steering the institute to greater heights.

Scientists interviewed by The STAR said they were not aware of anyone given a third term as the top official of an international center under the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). CGIAR is a consortium of governments, international organizations, and donor agencies that supports 15 international institutes strategically situated across the globe.

Among the CGIAR centers is the Los Baños-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which was established in 1960. ICRISAT came into being in 1972.

The CGIAR centers undertake programs, projects, and activities focusing on various commodities or scientific fields, among them rice, wheat, livestock, fisheries, forestry, plant genetics, and tropical agriculture.

In the case of ICRISAT, its programs focus on crops suited to the semi-arid tropics, among them pigeonpea, groundnut (peanut), sorghum, and millet.

In acknowledging Dr. Dar as an R&D administrator, the ICRISAT board, in an assessment last year, noted:

“The DG (Dr. Dar) had another most successful year. It (GB) recognized the continuing high morale of Team ICRISAT. The higher-than-expected growth in revenues and the budget surplus are impressive. The GB highly commended the DG for ICRISAT’s excellent performance, strong leadership, and big achievements in the past nine years.”

Dr. Dar, then 47, was appointed ICRISAT director general in January 2000.

He had earlier been Agriculture acting secretary during the first year of the Estrada administration. Previous to his Cabinet stint, he was executive director of the Los Baños-based Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), director of the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR), and vice president of the Benguet State University (BSU) in La Trinidad, Benguet.

Accepting the ICRISAT board’s offer for him to serve a third term, Dr. Dar said it gives him the opportunity to continue his work of leading a world-class team but delivers high-quality science research products that improve the livelihood of the poor farmers in dryland areas of the world.

During the past decade, he led ICRISAT through scientific and financial achievement, winning for it four “superior” and two “outstanding” ratings from CGIAR.

When he joined ICRISAT in 2000, the center was among the CGIAR’s “bottom-dwellers”. Now, it is among the top three in terms of financial health.

It was during his stewardship that ICRISAT, among other remarkable accomplishments, bred the world’s first hybrid legume (pigeon pea or kardis among Ilocanos and kadyos among Tagalogs).

“With 40 percent higher yields than the best local varieties, Pushkal (the name given to the hybrid) is truly the magic pear,” Dr. Dar said.

At home, he has been acknowledged by research and academic institutions, among them BSU and UP Los Baños, for his pivotal contributions to world agriculture.

During the 191st anniversary of Ilocos Sur last year, he and other honorees were conferred the Father Jose Burgos Award, which Gov. Deogracias Victor Savellano described as “the most prestigious” given by the province.