Prof. (Dr) A M Michael: Great Agricultural Engineer, Pioneering Informatician

Dr A M Michael (1930-2021) was a distinguished agricultural scientist, a renowned institution builder and a reputed public servant. Only a few individuals in this century can claim to have had a greater impact on Indian agricultural research and development, irrigation engineering and Informatics than Dr Michael. Apart from developing irrigation systems which could minimise water loss, it was he who thought ahead of time and introduced the idea of Agricultural Informatics (Ag I) preparing the agricultural sector of India for the networked society. It was Dr Michael who pioneered the digitization of PhD dissertations bringing them into Open Access for wider visibility, application and prevention of research duplication. It greatly influenced the establishment of innovative knowledge management systems like KrishiPrabha, mguthese.org and Shodhganga. Vision, intellect, passion, will power and quest for excellence, infallible power of judgment and diligence against all odds; rarely do we get to see these qualities together in a single individual.