Virender Lal Chopra
| Virender Lal Chopra | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 9, 1936 Adwal, Punjab, British India |
| Occupation | Biotechnologist Geneticist Agriculturalist |
| Years active | Since 1967 |
| Known for | Agricultural research |
| Parent(s) | Harbans Lal Sukhwanti |
| Awards |
Padma Bhushan Borlaug Award Om Prakash Bhasin Award Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Award Honor Summus Medal INSA Silver Jubilee Commemoration Medal INSA Aryabhatta Medal FAO World Food Day Award NAAS Dr. B. P. Pal Award ISCA Birbal Sahni Birth Centenary Award |
Virender Lal Chopra (born 1936) is an Indian biotechnologist, geneticist, agriculturalist and a former director-general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), known to have contributed to the development of wheat production in India. He is the chancellor of Central University of Kerala, a former Chancellor of the Central Agricultural University, Imphal and a former member of the Planning Commission of India. An elected fellow of several science academies such as Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, India, European Academy of Sciences and Arts and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), he is a recipient of a number of honors including Borlaug Award, FAO World Food Day Award and Om Prakash Bhasin Award. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1985, for his contributions to agricultural science.
Virender Lal Chopra was born on 9 August 1936 at Adhwal, a small village in the periphery of Rawal Pindi in West Punjab of the British India to Harbans Lal and Sukhwanti, and moving to Delhi, he did his early schooling at Ramjas School, Delhi. After securing his graduate degree with honours in agricultural science from Central College of Agriculture, Delhi in 1955 and following it up with an associateship at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) during 1955–57, he proceeded to the Institute of Genetics, University of Cologne on a senior Humboldt scholarship. Subsequently, he shifted his base to Edinburgh in 1964 and secured a doctoral degree (PhD) in Genetics from the Institute of Genetics of the University of Edinburgh in 1967.
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