SK Shoaib
Professor Dr Md Shahidur Rashid Bhuiyan is the current Vice-Chancellor of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University (SAU) appointed by Honourable President of Bangladesh on November 17, 2020 for the next four (4) years. He is the full-time professor at the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding of this university.
Recently, we had the opportunity to take an interview of this renowned agricultural researcher, writer, organizer and academician.
(This story is exclusively covered by Sk Shoaibur Rahaman)
Question 1: Tell us about yourself, your experience and role inside and outside the university?
VC (SAU): I started my career as a lecturer in 1983 in Bangladesh Agricultural Institute (BAI) which was later announced as a public university in 2001 and named Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University. In my long career, I would like to define my role in 3 parts: Researcher, Writer and an Academician.
As a researcher: Research is the most important single component of agricultural development. The improvements what we are now observing in this field are the result of extensive research. As a researcher, I invented three variety of Sorisha named SAU Sorisha-1, SAU Sorisha-2 and SAU Sorisha-3 that were quite successful among farmers. I worked in university research system as a Director of Research to create an impactful research environment in SAU for 4 years. In that tenure, I published ‘Journal of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University’ as the Chief Editor to present the results of our research so that people got to know and now it is the only journal of SAU.
I presented 30+ scientific papers in our country as well as abroad and most of the time I was the keynote speaker. I worked in a committee of Advance Research Grant, Bangladesh Education Ministry and also with other ministries and research organization to help and support our researchers. I made country report on ‘Agri Bio-diversity’ for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) nominated by Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC).
As a writer: About 26+ books on several topics on science were published to my credit. My first book on Plant Breeding was published in 1992 by Bangla Academy which is considered to be a book of milestone on these topics and so Bangla Academy reprinted it several times to fulfill the demand of readers. After that, I never stopped my writings to spread science knowledge to people. ‘Jib o Jiboner Golpo’, ‘Manush Niye Biggan’, ‘Foshol o Manush’ are the names of my few books. I have also contributed 200+ scientific articles in journal and magazine.
As an academician: From 1983, I have been working to develop agricultural education system of my university. I was the convener in curriculum committee of B Sc Ag (Hons), Chairman of Masters Degree Curriculum Committee and also started Ph D program in SAU when I was the Dean, Post Graduate Studies.
I was also the Coordinator of Seed Discipline Program and later was the Director at the Institute of Seed Technology. I played the role of Director of Central Laboratory, founded Gene Bank and Seed Museum. I completed my role as a Pro-Vice-Chancellor and now working as a Vice-Chancellor of SAU. Besides my role in university, I was the President of Bangladesh Plant Breeding and Genetics Society and now acting as the current President of Bangladesh Biology Olympiad.
Question 2: Could you please tell us about your awards and achievement?
VC (SAU): Sure. For my writings in agriculture and science, I achieved ‘Krishi Writers Award’ awarded by Krishibid Foundation. I got ‘Plant Breeding Award’ and was also honoured by getting ‘Bangabandhu National Agriculture Award’ for my immense contribution to agriculture sector which is one of the biggest achievements of my life.
Question 3: You have so many years of experience in the field of education and academics. How do you see the changes which have taken place in the higher agricultural education and education system of Bangladesh over the years?
VC (SAU): There is no doubt that agriculture is doing really well in our country to meet the increasing food demand and it has been only possible due to agricultural education. We are now in the leading position in rice, wheat and potato production. But I also admit that there are a lot of rooms of improvement. We have to be more practical and research-oriented, need to make partnership with industry so that we could build our long-lasting success.
Question 4: What do you think about digitalization of agriculture and why we are lagging behind at this point?
VC (SAU): That’s really an important question on which we must pay our attention. Digitalization is in everywhere, so why not in agriculture? The answer is we are not tech-savvy. We are just only reading science, taking knowledge but far away from digital innovation. In America, Europe and in other developed countries, installation of technology like Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence etc in agriculture are enhancing farm production 2-3 times than traditional farming. I think the government and other organization will come forward to create this digital environment and in this case, industry-academia collaboration is crucial to make our agriculture more sustainable.
Question 5: How do you plan to build on the success of SAU at long presence as a Vice-Chancellor?
VC (SAU): Over the past 37 years, I have been working for this university. My main focus will be on academics and research. Without both of these, no university can occupy its position in world ranking. For that, we have taken a plan to start new Masters’ program on Agro-Climatology, Agri-Journalism and on Food Safety System so that our students would be more compatible to compete in international level.
I would like to give more emphasize on impactful research which will not only stay as a paper but also will be beneficial for mankind. I have a plan to open an Agricultural Training Centre in SAU where farming enthusiasts from anywhere of Bangladesh will be able to learn farming courses and will be able to become entrepreneur.
Question 6: Which steps should be taken to pursue higher agricultural education in this pandemic?
VC (SAU): The world is now passing an uncertain situation. We don’t know when we will be able to reopen our universities as we are more concerned about the lives of our students. But we also have to be more mindful that education should be continued. We are now running our academics program online and soon we will also take necessary steps to evaluate our students through online assessment. I know there are some limitations and hopefully we could do it successfully at the end with everyone’s collaboration and cooperation.
Question 7: Finally, would you like to give guidelines and suggestions to your dearest students towards the development of their career?
VC (SAU): Today’s students are future of Bangladesh. If I speak more specifically, my university students will lead our agriculture and to see it happen, my suggestions to my students to learn always smartly from surroundings, the resources they have. To climb the career ladder, no alternative to learning. Every land, pond, farm could be the laboratory for agricultural students in this case. I also suggest them not only to run for BCS exam, but also to unlock other opportunities in this sector. I hope they will come up with new ideas and innovations which will shape our future agriculture.
SAU VC thanked Bangladesh Post to take this interview and he also hope that everyone’s cooperation and support will be continued to make our agriculture and agricultural education better that before.
