Prem Lal Gautam

Prem Lal Gautam is a plant breeder who has spent fifty years protecting India’s crop diversity and the rights of the farmers who grow it. In 2026 he was named for the Padma Shri in the field of science and engineering, from Himachal Pradesh ^[1].

Career

Gautam was born on 12 December 1947 in Kandayana village, Bilaspur district ^[2]. He studied agriculture at Solan and took an MSc and PhD in genetics at IARI, New Delhi ^[2]. He began teaching at G. B. Pant University in Pantnagar in 1974, and later became its vice-chancellor ^[2].

He has headed the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, served as ICAR’s deputy director general for crop science, and chaired both the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority and the National Biodiversity Authority ^[2]. He is now chancellor of Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University in Pusa, Bihar ^[2].

Seeds and rights

Gautam helped develop about a dozen improved crop varieties ^[2]. He set up a national system for registering plant germplasm, got the National Gene Bank running and expanded its collection ^[2]. He contributed to drafting and implementing the Biological Diversity Act and the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act ^[2].

Internationally, he was on India’s team for talks on the FAO plant genetic resources treaty and the Convention on Biological Diversity, and pressed for farmers’ rights to be included in the treaty ^[2]. He also sat on the executive board of the Global Crop Diversity Trust ^[2].