Felicitation of Dr K.L. Chadha, President HSI on being conferred the Padma Shri

The Agri-horti fraternity of the country assembled on May 7, 2012 at the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences Auditorium to felicitate Dr K.L. Chadha, former DDG (Hort.) ICAR and President HSI on being conferred the Padma Shri from her Excellency Smt. Pratibha Devi Singh Patil, President of India on March 22, 2012. On this occasion many senior scientists & technocrats associated with R&D in Agriculture from ICAR, Ministry of Agriculture, ASRB, NAAS, SAUs, Academies, national professional societies and cooperatives, international institutes, representatives from print media and NGOs, members Executive Council of HSI, gathered to felicitate Dr K.L. Chadha on this accomplishment in the cause of Horticulture-led agrarian transformation in the country.

On this occasion, Dr S. Ayyappan, Secretary DARE & DG ICAR lauded the role of Dr Chadha in different capacities in “Building Several Horticulture Institutes’’ referred by him as ‘Temples for Farming Communities’ Dr R.B. Singh, President NAAS, described Dr Chadha as ‘Father of Modern Horticulture in India’. Dr Gurbachan Singh, Chairman ASRB, said that ‘this conferment Honours the Rare Commitment of Dr K.L. Chadha for R&D in horticulture’. Dr P.L. Gautam, Chairman, PPVF&RA, said that ‘Dr Chadha has ‘left Memorable Footprints wherever he has served’. Sh. J.N.L. Srivastava, Former Secretary, Ministry of Agri. & Co-operation and President, IFFCO Foundation, described him as ‘a Great Mentor for the entire Horticulture Community’.

Dr J.S. Samra, CEO, NRAA and longtime family friend of Dr Chadha described his role in the ‘establishment of CMRS now CISH, Lucknow from scratch’. He referred to him as ‘Mentor for several Students & Scientists in Horticulture’. Dr Kirti Singh, Former ASRB Chairman, said that Dr Chadha’s contribution as a researcher and administrator has ‘No Parallel in Indian Horticulture’. Notable among these speakers were Dr S.P. Ghosh, Former DDG (Hort.), Dr D.S. Rathore, Former VC, CSK HPKVV, Palampur; Dr B.S. Chundawat, Former VC SDUA&T, Sardar Krushinagar, Dr K.S. Chauhan, Former VC RAU, Samastipur, Dr S.M. Paul Khurana, Former VC, RDU, Jabalpur, Dr K. Pradhan, Former VC OUA&T Bhubaneswar, Dr D.P Ray, VC OUA&T, Bhubaneswar, Dr M.L. Choudhary, VC BAU, Sabour; Dr M.L. Chadha, Former Director, AVRDC Regional Centre, Hyderabad, Dr H.S. Gupta, Director, IARI, Dr Brahma Singh, Former Director, DIHAR, Leh, and Dr V.B. Patel, Professor, BAU, Bhagalpur. Subsequently, over 15 Presidents/ Office bearers of different professional societies in horticulture presented floral bouquets to Dr Chadha in appreciation of his contributions in horticulture and to the promotion of horticulture societies in India.