Distinguished agricultural scientist Neelamraju Ganga Prasada Rao, fondly referred to as the `father of hybrid sorghum’, passed away today in Hyderabad after a brief illness.

The 89-year-old NGP Rao is well-known for basic and applied research in breeding and agronomy of several dryland crops. Due to his efforts, sorghum hybrids CSH1 CSH5 and CSH9 became popular and were cultivated in over 8 to 10 million hectares.

His contributions in dryland crops, particularly long staple desi cotton, pigeonpea, castor and novel cropping systems, were well recognised. He has around 200 research publications in national and international journals. He won the SS Bhatnagar Prize for Biological Sciences.

The advent of hybrid sorghum gave rise to the sorghum seed industry on a large-scale. The growth rates of sorghum during the 1970s and 1980s were comparable to irrigated wheat and rice. Kharif sorghum represented an important change in dryland agriculture of India.

Born in Korisapadu, Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, Rao had his early education in the Agricultural College, Bapatla, moved on to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi and then Bihar University.

Rao held various positions such as Consultant to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Project Coordinator (Sorghum), All-India Coordinated Sorghum Improvement Project, IARI, ICRISAT's Regional Sorghum Breeder for West Africa, Vice-Chancellor, Marathwada Agricultural University, Parbhani, Maharashtra, and Chairman, Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board, ICAR.

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