C.L. Laxmipathi Gowda – Delivering Smiles to Smallholder Farmers: A dream realized

C.L. Laxmipathi Gowda

Delivering Smiles to Smallholder Farmers: A dream realized

1. My childhood and education (1949 to 1975)

• I was born to a farming family in Hassan district, Karnataka, India. Primary education was in the village, and middle and high school in 3 different towns. Had hands-on working in the fields (both rainfed drylands and irrigated wetlands), and it was an unforgettable experience of the farmers’ tough life.
• Received Bachelor’s degree from Agriculture College, Dharwad; Master’s from GBPUAT, Pantnagar; and PhD from IARI, New Delhi.
• Studying in different towns and cities across Karnataka and outside gave me a broad perspective on the society and its culture across different states.
• As President of the Students’ Union at IARI, I had opportunities to imbibe leadership skills, and to build self-confidence during interactions with senior-level scientists and administrators across different layers of hierarchy.

2. Early career experiences at ICRISAT (1975 to 1986)

• My work as chickpea breeder at ICRISAT gave me both challenges and opportunities as a scientist in an international research institute, to be recognized as an accomplished chickpea breeder globally.
• Continuing in leadership roles from my PhD days (President of Students’ Union) to being the Convenor of Scientists’ Forum at ICRISAT enhanced my leadership skills.
• Worked as a consultant for FAO at Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute, near Dhaka (1982), to train young legumes breeders; during that time, wrote a Book on ‘Pulses in Bangladesh’ (jointly with late Dr AK Kaul).
• Took responsibilities as Research Coordinator and Manager at ICRISAT Sub-station in Hisar (1983-85) to streamline operations, and to enhance coordination with the authorities of Haryana Agriculture University.

3. Mid-career experiences (1986 to 2000)

• Initially helped establish the Asian Grain Legumes Network (AGLN); later, worked as Coordinator of the merged Cereals and Legumes Asia Network (CLAN). Working with >12 Asian national program scientists and farmers provided the greatest satisfaction in my life (1993-2013). This was the initiation for fulfilling my dream of “Delivering Smiles to Smallholder Farmers”.
• Worked as Coordinator of the Genetic Diversification and Enhancement Research project (1999-2000). This served as the foundation for me to lead other research projects and research programs later.
• As Head of the Learning Systems Unit (Training Program) (1999-2001), I emphasized hands-on training, as well as enhanced the use of ICT for remote learning programs. Initiated the e-library project to provide current publications to scientists in developing countries at their desks. The Open Access Repository (OAR) is now considered an international public good.

4. Next level of research leadership (2001 to 2014)

• As Global Theme Leader of Crop Improvement (2001-2010), and as Director, Grain Legumes Program (2011-13), I was leading the R&D efforts across ICRISAT regions (Asia, Eastern and Southern Africa, and West and Central Africa) in crop improvement and management. As that was one of the largest programs with > 40 scientists and >250 support staff, spread across different regions, it was a challenge to provide scientific leadership, including priority setting in research to achieve desired milestones.
• Generating funds from various donors to support the R&D and managing them was another big, but satisfying, challenge. Over the decade, we were successful in generating > 250 million US$ for over 310 projects.
• One of the major highlights was a pioneering Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), which involved > 50 private sector seed companies through the ICRISAT-Private Sector Hybrid Parents Research Consortia (HPRC). That partnership enhanced the synergies between the social equity goal of public institutions and the commercial efficacy of seed companies. This PPP model has been emulated by other national and international centers.
• Genetic resources conservation and utilization was another important responsibility, which provided opportunities to serve the R&D community by helping enhance utilization of genetic resources in national programs.
• Responsibilities as Deputy Director General (2013-14) involved providing science and management leadership and monitoring an integrated research strategy to achieve the institute’s objectives of improving food and nutrition security.

5. Additional remarks

• Accepting additional responsibilities helped in widening experiences, and being able to show my abilities in those senior positions helped me to grow in the institute from a scientist to Deputy Director General.
• The best reward I received during my career was seeing a Vietnamese farmer beaming with satisfaction with the increase in his groundnut production after he participated in an on-farm research program. That is my realized dream of “Delivering Smiles to Smallholder Farmers”.

6. Advice to future scientists

• Accept challenges and responsibilities as they come and these will provide opportunities for career development.
• Work conscientiously with dedication and commitment towards the set professional goals; recognition and rewards will follow.