Surajit Kumar De Datta

S.K.De Datta
Residence	Virginia ,United States of America
Nationality	Indian

Surajit Kumar De Datta is an Indian American agronomist who is best known for his high yield variety of rice IR-8 that contributed significantly to the Green Revolution across Asia". He worked 27 years at the International Rice Research Institute in Philippines helping Southeast Asia get self-sufficiency in rice production. His book on rice production, Principles and Practices of Rice Production, is considered an authoritative opus in the field of rice cultivation. He has also written two books namely, "Availability of Phosphorus and Utilization of Phosphate Fertilizers in Some Great Soil Groups of Hawaii" in 1963 and "Availability of Phosphorus to Sugar Cane in Hawaii as Influenced by Various Phosphorus Fertilizers and Methods of Application" in 1965 with James C. Moomaw. For his works, he has been awarded the Norman Borlaug Award for Outstanding Contribution to Agricultural Sciences and a citation from the President of Philippines.

Prior to his arrival at Virginia Tech in 1991, Dr. De Datta served as an agronomist and principal scientist at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines for 27 years. During that time, Dr. De Datta’s research in rice production contributed to the green revolution that helped Southeast Asia gain agricultural self-sufficiency.

Dr. De Datta has received many awards over his long career. He has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America, Crop Science Society of America, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences in India, and Indian Society of Soil Science. In addition, he received the Norman Borlaug Award for Outstanding Contribution to Agricultural Sciences and the Green Revolution in India as well as a presidential citation from the president of the Philippines in recognition of his outstanding contributions to agricultural productivity in the region.

Dr. De Datta has advised a total of 77 master’s and Ph.D. students in his career. He has published 366 journal articles, technical bulletins, and other reports in the areas of soil science, soil and crop management, and weed science. He has served on numerous boards, societies, and committees.

B.S., Agriculture, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, 1956; M.S, Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India, 1958; Ph.D., Soil Science, University of Hawaii, 1962.

He married L. Vijayalakshmi, an Indian film actress who was active during the 1960s and 1970s. She was a prominent lead actress during the early 1960s in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu ad Hindi films.

...
Wikipedia