Digvir S. Jayas elected as Foreign Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India

Digvir S. Jayas, Vice-President (research and international) and Distinguished Professor, has been elected as a Foreign Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India for his contributions to global grain preservation through research and innovation. He is the first Manitoban and only seventh Canadian to be bestowed this honour since the establishment of the Academy in 1930. The academy is equivalent to the Royal Society of Canada.

Digvir S. Jayas, Ph.D., P.Eng., P.Ag., FAZRA, FASABE, FCSBE, FAIC, FCIFST, FEC, FEIC, FCAE, FRSC, FNAAS, FISAE

Dr. Jayas’ contribution to Indian agricultural research and human resource development has been through collaborative research programs with researchers at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (Pantnagar, India) (Dr.  Agrawal on role of enzymes to enhance oil recovery from oilseeds); Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU, Coimbatore) (Dr. Alagusundaram, Dr. Sreenarayanan, and Dr. Viswanathan on several topics related to grain storage and drying); Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI, Cuttack) (Dr. Prakash on physical control of insects in grain); Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute (CEERI, Chennai and Pilani) (Dr. Rao on the development of a machine vision based system for grading of fruits and an X-ray system for detecting insects in mangoes and Dr. Sadistap on developing sensors for monitoring grain quality); and Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI, Delhi) (Dr. Chandra on several projects). Most of these collaborations have resulted in several joint research publications and with Dr. Prakash from CRRI, he has co-edited a book.

He has developed strong ties with TNAU and has provided considerable input during curriculum development for undergraduate food engineering program.  He has trained eight different scientists from TNAU and IICPT for 3 to 6 months each on grain preservation techniques.  He has offered a 2-week course on “Teaching Techniques” to academic staff members at TNAU.  He has accepted from several Indian Universities graduate students into his programs.  Several of his M.Sc. and Ph.D. students have returned to India, e.g., Dr. Shunmagam is a  faculty member at TNAU, Dr. Alagusundaram is the Director of the IICPT.  Since 2010, Dr. Jayas and Dr. Alagusundaram have initiated a $200,000, three-year, externally-funded research project entitled “Development of Technologies and Capacity Building for Primary Processing, Drying and On-farm Storage of Pulses in India.” In February 2012, he organized an International Symposium on Grain Storage and presented a Keynote Address entitled “Grain storage for food security and safety” during the 46^th Convention of the Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar.