Fellow

Professor Dr. Md. Abdur Rahim

(Fellow, 2024)

Professor Dr. Md. Abdur Rahim earned BSc Ag (Hons.) degree in 1980 and MS in Horticulture degree in 1982 from Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh with First Class in both examinations. He obtained PhD degree in Crop Physiology from the University of London, UK in 1988. Professor Rahim did postdoctoral research at University of Wisconsin, USA in 2003 under USDA Fellowship in 2012, at University of Wisconsin, under Crop Trust, GCDT program.

 Professor Rahim joined as Lecturer BAU, Mymensingh 24 October 1982 as a Lecturer in the Department of Horticulture and presently he is a Professor of BAU.

Professor Rahim has earned much reputation as a researcher with the highest degree of scientific accomplishments. He has completed 20 research projects as Principal Investigator (PI), funded by many national and international organizations. He has published more than 300 papers in national and international journals. He also published more than 10 books, 20 reports, and 100 booklets.

Dr. Rahim has made original, innovative, and significant contributions to the quality, quantity, and availability of food to the people of Bangladesh over the past 45 years, with impact throughout Asia and the Middle East. His achievements began with his development of the collection of diverse fruit and vegetable crops germplasm at the Bangladesh Agricultural University – Germplasm Centre (BAU-GPC). With this germplasm collection in hand, he initiated the BAU-GPC – Fruit Tree Improvement Project (FTIP) to identify, improve, propagate, and distribute elite fruit tree selections across Bangladesh. To capitalize on the full agricultural capacity of this valuable germplasm, he developed extensive human resources – training graduate students, agricultural production specialists, and farmers – to establish and sustain high productivity, nutritional quality, and economic value in the fruit trees that this project distributed to millions of small-scale farmers of Bangladesh. He has developed a similar model for improving the productivity of vegetable crops in this country.

Dr. Rahim has been a prolific mentor of graduate students at  BAU where 55 Ph.D students have completed their studies under his supervision with 25 co-supervised and 12 ongoing Ph.D. students; and 350 MS students have completed their studies with him, co-supervisor of 240 MS students with  25 students on-going. Beyond the research information directly applicable to the BAU-GPC-FTIP program that resulted from the training of this large number of students under the guidance of Dr. Rahim, this cadre of well-trained scientists has gone on to take leadership positions in agricultural industry, academia, government organizations, and NGOs,  in Bangladesh as well as other countries, FAO, WorldFish, USDA, USAID, BlueGold, AIT, UNDP, ICRISAT, IRRI, and Bioversity International, to name a few.

Prof. Rahim has been highly recognized by numerous National and International awards. These include the Bangladesh Prime Minister Gold Medal in 2004 on Fruit Tree Plantation and again in 2012 and 2013 on Outstanding Research Uplifting the Nutritional Food Security of the Rural Poor of Bangladesh; over 60 other awards from many other universities of Bangladesh, scientific organizations, agricultural technology organizations, and service groups. He received some international awards, notably.  Mother Teresa Gold Medal Award for Contribution in Horticulture and Nutrition in 2007;  the Indian Council on Agricultural Research Recognition Award for  Outstanding Contributions in Horticulture and Food Security in 2007;  the Pro-Oxfam Award for Contributions to Food Security, Employment Generation and Economic Uplift  in 2011; the Helen Keller Gold Medal for Solving Malnutrition Problems of Children and Women in 2011> Dr. Rahim is recognized  by the Norman Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellows Program in 2008; and by awards from several universities of Indonesia and Malaysia.

Dr.  Rahim has given training to farmers, and Training of Trainers (ToT), on technologies developed for fruit tree production, crop storage and fruit processing, good agricultural practices, agricultural value chain and distribution throughout the country.

Germplasm from BAU- GPC has been shared with other fruit tree collections around the world including the USDA Germplasm Repository and nurseries in the U.S., and with use of BAU-GPC-FTIP germplasm in India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, and Nepal.

Dr. Rahim has also  important leadership role in the several  agricultural scientific societies of Bangladesh as President of the Fruit Science Society of Bangladesh (established in 2004); President of the Seed Science Society of Bangladesh (established in 1995); Vice President of the Agorforestry Society of Bangladesh (established in  2004); and Vice President of the Bangladesh Society for Horticultural Science (established in  1972). The above stated recognitions show highly significant research achievements of Professor Dr. Md. Abdur Rahim.