Navalpakkam Parthasarthy

Navalpakkam Parthasarthy (1900–1993) was an Indian geneticist, executive secretary of International Rice Commission and Rice Advisor to the governments of Liberia and Thailand. The Government of India honoured him in 1958, with the award of Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award for his services to the nation.

Biography Navalpakkam Parthasarathy was born on 8 April 1900. His career started in 1923 as a rice breeding assistant at the Paddy Breeding Station in Coimbatore and later, worked at other stations in Aduthurai and Pattambi. and published many articles.

He was an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) and the Tamil Nadu Academy of Sciences and served as a member of INSA council during 1978–79 He also served as the president of Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding for two terms (1952 and 1970), the agricultural section of the Indian Science Congress (1953) and the Madras Science Foundation. A recipient of the Gold Medal from the Rural Development Agency under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, South Korea, Parthasarathy was awarded the fourth highest Indian civilian honour of Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1958.

Parthasarathy died, aged 93, on 4 January 1993.