Bonbehari Vishnu Nimbkar (17 July 1931 – 25 August 2021) was an Indian agricultural scientist and social worker, known for his work in the fields of

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, animal fiber, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising ...

and agriculture. He founded

Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) is an Indian non-governmental organization and non-profit research and development institute in Phaltan, Maharashtra. NARI undertakes research and development in the fields of agriculture, renewabl ...

, an Indian

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

engaged in research and development in agriculture, renewable energy and animal husbandry. His work garnered him many awards, including the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

and the

Jamnalal Bajaj Award Jamnalal Bajaj Award is an Indian award, for promoting Gandhian values, community service and social development. Established in 1978, by the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation of Bajaj Group, it is given annually in four categories, and usually pres ...

Early life

B. V. Nimbkar was born on 17 July 1931 in

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

to Kamala Nimbkar (''née'' Elizabeth Lundy) and Vishnu Nimbkar. He attended

George School George School is a private Quaker (Society of Friends) boarding and day high school located on a rural campus in Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania ( Newtown postal address). It has been at that site since its founding in 1893, an ...

, a Quaker-run preparatory school in Newtown, Pennsylvania. His mother also attended the same school. After obtaining a master's degree in agronomy from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

, he returned to India.

Career

In 1956, he started farming in

Phaltan Phaltan () is a city, tehsil and municipal council in the Satara district in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Maharashtra. The city is about northeast of the city of Satara (city), Satara and about 110 km from P ...

, a taluka in Satara district in western

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

, and is reported to have started a seed business and processing plant called Nimbkar Seeds, with financial assistance from the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

. In 1968, he founded the

(NARI), a non-profit,

, for advanced research in agriculture. The organization has since grown to include activities in renewable energy, animal husbandry and sustainable development. His company Nimbkar Seeds is credited with the introduction of pure-bred

Boer goats The Boer or Boerbok is a South African breed of meat goat. It was selectively bred in the Eastern Cape from about 1920 for meat qualities and for the ability to survive by grazing on the thorn veldt of that region. It has been exported to m ...

for the first time in India. He remained the president of NARI till 1990 and since 1990 as of 2021, NARI is headed by his daughter

Nandini Nimbkar Nandini Nimbkar is an agricultural scientist from India, and currently the president of the Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI). She is the daughter of B. V. Nimbkar and granddaughter of Irawati Karve and Kamala Nimbkar. Nimbkar ...

, assisted by Chanda Nimbkar and Nandini's husband, Anil K. Rajvanshi. Some of Nimbkar's research areas included studying the causes for

desertification Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of Soil fertility, fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This i ...

particularly in the Western Maharashtra region and the lasting impact of

hybrid plant In biology, a hybrid is the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different varieties, subspecies, species or genera through sexual reproduction. Generally, it means that each cell has genetic material from two di ...

s and

high-yielding varieties High-yielding varieties (abbreviated as HYVs) of agricultural crops are Variety (botany), varieties of crops that are usually characterized by a combination of the following Phenotypic trait, traits in contrast to the conventional ones: * Higher ...

of crops on the underlying soil. His research work and articles were published in national and international journals. Nimbkar was the recipient of the

, India's fourth highest civilian honor, in 2006, for his contributions to the field of agriculture. He was also the recipient of the

in 2016 for the application of science and technology toward rural applications.

Personal life

Nimbkar was married and had three daughters,

, an academic and agricultural scientist, Chanda Nimbkar, a geneticist and animal husbandry research scientist, and Manjiri Nimbkar, a physician and social worker. Nimbkar died at Phaltan on 25 August 2021, one month after his 90th birthday.

Selected bibliography

* * * * *

References

External links