William Dar – From India, I Might Say, We Have A PH Champion Of The Poor, Starting When He Was Director General Of The International Crops Research Institute For The Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)

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I know William Dar champions the poor! I learned that 22 years ago as international consulting writer of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), of which he was Director General (DG).

The above image is the cover of my 1st ICRISAT book, Team ICRISAT Champions The Poor, published by ICRISAT in 2007 at its headquarters in Patancheru, India. The title is mine; the cover is designed by the ICRISAT artist and the photographs come from the ICRISAT collection of images.

The image I want to convey today, 15 years later, is that ICRISAT gave us a Secretary of Agriculture who proved he was a Servant Leader from 2000 to 2014 as he headed that institute. He had the vision, “Science with a human face” – and with that inspired all of ICRISAT so that from being dead last (kulelat), the institute rose to #1 among the 15 international agricultural research agencies of CGIAR that include/d Philippine-based well-respected IRRI.

I wrote in my 2007 book:

When Dar assumed the leadership of ICRISAT in the year 2000, the Institute was destitute in accomplishments and funds; today, ICRISAT is an inspiration to the other 14 centers of the CGIAR for beating the odds and continuing to be triumphant, continually reinventing itself. It is Dar's unique brand of science management that ignited the flame of dynamism and smothered the embers of stagnation within the Institute.

If you give the Leadership to a bright & bold leader who thereby comes up with the Vision, Mission & Strategy for Excellence, he will deliver you from Hell to Heaven!

How did I come to know all that? Here’s the short story. Of retired PhilRice Executive Director Santiago R Obien’s (SRO’s) stellar achievements, I wrote in my essay “The Wizard Of Rice” published by The American Chronicle 2006. Pleased, later SRO asked me, “Please write about Willie Dar,” which I did; Mr Dar liked it and I became a writer from home for ICRISAT. 2007-2014, I published the blog iCRiSAT Watch; eventually, ICRISAT published 7 ICRISAT books by me:

1. Team ICRISAT Champions The Poor – 2007
2. The Smart Revolution (ICRISAT Partners In Research for Development) – 2008
3. Exploiting The Power Of Science, Transforming The Semi-Arid Tropics – 2009
4. ICRISAT Innovations Shape The Future Of Drylands – 2010
5. Science Of The Articulate (IMOD As ICRISAT & Partners’ New Drylands Strategy) – 2011
6. ICRISAT & Partners: Political Will Applied With Science – 2012
7. ICRISAT & Partners: Thinking Globally, Acting Globally – 2013.

I much enjoyed writing for ICRISAT because there was so much to write about and so rich the materials – my restless & creative mind told me and my eyes showed me that I was writing for an institute that was a champion of the poor farmers in Africa and Asia. As blogger, I was fulfilled.

December 2014: When he retired from ICRISAT, Mr Dar knew he served the people well!@517

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