E. A. Siddiq Biography 
E. A. Siddiq is an agricultural scientist from Tamil nadu, whose research works are associated with the fields of genetics and plant breeding. He is best known for his contributions towards breeding different rice varieties. Developer of the first dwarf Basmati rice variety in 1989, his team was involved in the development of 14 high-yielding rice varieties including DRRH1, India’s first hybrid rice, released in 1995. Pusa 44 and Pusa-2-21 are among the high yielding varieties of rice started by Siddiq.
For his contributions towards social service, he was honoured with fourth highest civilian Padma Shri by government of India in 2011. He was a recipient of the prestigious Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award instituted in 1956 by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to recognize Indian researchers in the agricultural field, and he received the honour in 1995, following the revolutionizing invention of India’s first hybrid rice.
His full name is Ebrahimali Abubacker Siddiq. He was born in Ilayangudi in Sivaganga District, Tamil Nadu in 1937. He graduated in Botany in 1959 and also completed his Master’s degree. He completed his doctoral studies in Cytogenetics, under the supervision of renowned botanist, M. S. Swaminathan, from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute. He later joined the same institute as a cytogeneticist in 1968, and held that post for next 8 years before he was promoted as the Senior Scientist. He has been deputed to Egypt and Philippines later, as a part of his job.
Once returned he worked at Project Director of the Directorate of Rice Research, Hyderabad till 1994. He then moved to Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi as the Deputy Director General of the Crop Science Division. He was associated with ICAR till his retirement in 2007.
Published: February 27, 2019
Updated: February 27, 2019
