1(Tamil Nadu Agricultural University) Dr. Subramaniam Sankaran obtained his M. Sc. (Agri.) degree in Agronomy with distinction in 1 st Class from Madras University in the year 1967. He got ICAR Senior Fellowship to continue his studies at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. His research on “Herbicides in wheat based cropping system and their residues” led to Ph. D. degree in 1970. During 1982, he was selected for Post-Doctoral Research at the International Rice Research Institute, Philippines to work on “Weed management in upland rice under varying moisture regimes”.
For his post-graduate research and publications he was awarded four Gold medals by the State and National Scientific bodies. He got several academic distinctions during his M. Sc. and Ph. D. studies. Under his supervision, 25 PhD. and 36 M. Sc. (Agri.) students got the degrees; some of them got Gold Medals for their thesis research. The ISWS and the Indian Society of Agronomy selected him as the Fellow of the Society and both recognized him with Gold medals.
Dr. Sankaran has published 160 research articles in leading national and international journals. His books on “Principles of Agronomy” and “Methods of Herbicide Residue Studies” are Reference Books for the graduate courses. He has contributed a chapter on “Weeds and Weed Management in Upland Rice” in Advances in Agronomy, 1985, the first Weed Science Chapter since the inception of the Society. He was the Dean of the Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai and Coimbatore. He has served as Director, Centre for Soil & Crop Management Studies and Director of Extension Education of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore before assuming the position of Vice-Chancellor in the year 1993. During his tenure, the Agricultural College, Trichy and the Agricultural Engineering College, Kumulur and Horticulture College, Periakulam were started in Tamil Nadu State.
Dr. Sankaran has visited 25 countries to organize Collaborative Academic and Research Programmes between Universities and also to present invitational papers. He was actively involved in establishing National Centre for Weed Science at Jabalpur as a member of the ICAR Site Selection Committee and subsequently as Chairman of the Research Advisory Committee of the Centre. He has also served as the Chairman of the QRT, AICRIP (Weed Science) and President of the ISWS for three years. His services were utilized by ICAR in various Selection Committees for the selection of ADGs, Directors and HODs of national institutes. He was a Peer Review Committee member of ICAR to evaluate New Schemes in the field of Agronomy including Weed Science. The Government of Tamil Nadu nominated him as the Member of the Advisory Board for the Department of Environment and Forestry.
Dr. Sankaran has been richly awarded for his outstanding contributions in Weed Science. In 2008, the Crop and Weed Science Society of BCKVV University, Kalyani, West Bengal also awarded him “Life Time Achievement Award” for his premier contributions in Agronomy and Weed Science.
Dr. Sankaran passed away peacefully at his home in Salem, India on 12 June 2010. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Balamani, a son, a daughter and four grandchildren.
