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Members Details

Dr. Syam Viswanath:

An Academic Profile

 

Dr Syam Viswanath, during his 31 year stint as a forestry scientist in Indian Council for Forestry research and Education (ICFRE), MoEF &CC, Govt of India has been active in agroforestry and conservation issues in India. He has worked across several Institutes of ICFRE like FRI, Dehradun, TFRI Jabalpur, IFGTB, Coimbatore and IWST, Bangalore. He has also served as Director KSCSTE- Kerala Forest Research Institute for 5years and 3 months ending Sept 2023. Under his leadership, KFRI was selected as the Best Performing Institute of KSCSTE for 2021 and an award bestowed in a special ceremony by the Hon, CM of Kerala, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan.

He has authored more than 140 publications including 12 books. More than 1150 citations in google scholar and research gate. Has a score of 9.5/10 in Vidwan, HRD, Govt of India and rated in top 3% globally as per AD Scientific Index. His primary focus has been on Traditional Agroforestry Systems (TAFS) in rain-fed regions in India besides notable research in Bamboo, sandalwood and teak. In recognition of his contributions to the field of agroforestry, he was honoured with the Dr KG Tejwani Memorial Award for outstanding contributions to Agroforestry research and development in 2021-22 by the Indian Society of Agroforestry (ISAF) based in ICAR-CAFRI, Jhansi.

Conservation and domestication of prominent bamboo species and utilization of bamboo edible shoots have been a major focus of his research for the last 2 decades. He has also contributed significantly as an author in three chapters, including bamboo-based agroforestry practices in the Status Report on Bamboo Conservation Management and Utilization in India (2017) of ICFRE, which has helped in major policy decisions. Another major contribution at the national level has been promoting the cultivation of non-thorny bamboo species in India. He has attempted to bring out cultivation packages for 4 species, viz. Guadua angustifolia in 2012 Dendrocalamus stocksii in 2012 and Dendrocalamus brandisii in 2013 and Bambusa balcooa in 2021. Other initiatives include promoting edible bamboo shoots, producing quality planting stock, and establishing several on-farm demonstration trials in Karnataka and Punjab under various funded projects of NMBA-DST, NBM, Ministry of Agriculture and Punjab Forest Dept. D.stocksii, a bamboo species worth cultivating in India, has been given particular focus in a short documentary on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAiEN9rMvM0). Major initiative to get GI tag for Kannadi paaya, a special bamboo mat from Teinostachyum wightii for the stakeholder Urali indigenous tribal community in Venmani, Idukki district. Developed a substitute for Jigat from Persea deccanensis for the agarbatti industry for which a patent was granted. Patent granted for Binding matrix for incense sticks or incense cones, Patent application No : 202241001581 on 11/01/2022

Dr. Syam Viswanath has completed 20 externally aided research projects and 6 internal projects while in ICFRE. Has mentored 25 students to PhD, of which at least 8 are in bamboo. He has completed several international and national assignments as a Consultant for UNIDO on bamboo. He has been a Guest Faculty at Azim Premji University, Bangalore, since 2015 and regularly conducts an open Course on Bamboo for a full semester for Postgraduate students. He is also a Courtesy Professor in the School of Forest Resources and Conservation (SFRC), University of Florida, Gainesville, since 2015, besides being a recognised guide for PhD at Calicut University, CUSAT Cochin, FRI University, Dehra Dun and National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Dr. Syam Viswanath is an Advisory member of the National Bamboo Mission, Govt. of India, and an Executive council member of Asia Pacific Forestry Research Institutes (APAFRI) based in Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) for two consecutive periods in 2018-2021 and 2021-2023, Program Advisory Committee (PAC) member of DST, Govt. of India for SC/SP schemes of SEED division since 2019. He is a Reviewer for International Journals such as Agroforestry Systems, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. He is also the chief editor of the international Journal of Bamboo and Rattan since 2020.