Artwork by Rashi Jain
From conversation on:
Nov 26, 2022
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The most basic of survival necessity is food—the plate at the end of the day. While the human population began settling down from the hunter-gatherer stage, it became quite essential for us to find ways of bringing our food to our vicinity. Settlement meant a big leap in the techniques of how food was grown, from calculating rains to fighting insects. There’s so much that our food depends on—from the clouds in the sky to water in the drain. But how do you look at the clouds above and water beneath? It’s quite astonishing to think how closely connected satellites are to the food we eat. Agriculture as a field took a big leap when instruments were placed up in the sky to map it ground below. We had the incredible opportunity to discuss ideas and questions with a renowned scientist and veteran, Prof. Vinay K. Dadhwal who has played a pivotal role in advancing agricultural methods and technologies in India. He has also headed some great organisations in India including National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad and Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram.
(On the impact of Moon landing and the decision to work with the Indian Space Program) ...No, we were aware and reading, but at that stage you think space sector is an engineer's or a technologist's job. You never think (as a researcher), it is anywhere close in your circle of expertise. Yet, it is clear that it is important. You read about it in the newspapers, and science magazines. In India, it was still in infancy, and this big stuff is happening abroad... It is so far removed that you are aware but you do not spend time on it, thinking!
ABOUT THE GUEST
Prof. Vinay K. Dadhwal Indira Gandhi Chair Professor of Environmental Science, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru.
Prof. Vinay Kumar Dadhwal received his Bachelor in Science degree in Botany from Hansraj College, New Delhi in 1976, and went on from there to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute for his master's degree, where he continued and further received his Ph.D. in plant physiology in 1983. After this, Prof. Dadhwal joined the Space Applications Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabad where he served as the Head of Crop Inventory and Modeling Division, making seminal contributions in developing quintessential remote sensing methods, ultimately inspiring changes in India’s agricultural methods in his 21-year career. From there he went on to serve as the Dean at Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun. Prof. Dadwal joined the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad as the Associate Director and went on to become the Director of NRSC, ISRO. After this, in 2016, he took up the responsibilities as the Director of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, where he worked till 2021, and moved to his current position at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, where he is the Indira Gandhi Chair Professor of Environmental Sciences.