B. R. Murty

Bhyravabhotla Radhakrishna Murty (1928–2003) was an Indian botanist, known for his contributions the fields of Conservation genetics and Radiation genetics. He was a professor of Biochemistry Division at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa and was an elected fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1973, for his contributions to biological sciences.

Biography Radhakrishna Murty, born on 4 April 1928, secured his PhD from Cornell University in 1960, working under the supervision of renowned Botanist, Royse Peak Murphy. Returning to India, he joined the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Delhi as a biometrical geneticist in 1961 and in 1966 he was promoted as the co-ordinator of the All India Project for Crop Improvement, a post he held till 1974.

Legacy Murty was the pioneer of biometrical genetics at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute when he started his research on the subject in 1961 during his stint at their Delhi campus. His researches have been documented by way of several articles and three books, Genetic Studies of Some Hybrid Derivatives of Nicotiana Rustica and Nicotiana Tabacum, Bajra Production: Problems and Prospects and Breeding Procedures in Pearl-millet: (Pennisetum Typhoides S. & H.). He sat in the International Committee on International Biological Programme of the United Nations from 1969 to 1975, International Committee on Plant Breeding Perspectives from 1974 1979 and the project evaluation Committee of the United Nations Development Program in 1987 and served as the director, International Training Program of Food and Agriculture Organization/IAEA and as a consultant at International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in 1992 and International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in 1975, 1979 and 1982. He also served as a member of the editorial boards of journals such as Theoretical and Applied Breeding and Genetics and Breeding. was elected as a fellow by the Indian National Science Academy in 1974 and the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1975. He was also a fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and a member of the International Biometric Society, Genetics Society and American Statistical Association. He was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards, by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in 1973.

Selected bibliography