Entomologist of international reputation and former Vice-Chancellor of University of Agricultural Sciences-Bengaluru, Dr. G.K. Veeresh, died on Tuesday due to ill health. He was 89.
His last rites are being held at Hebbal crematorium in Bengaluru on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
Dr. Veeresh had headed a high-power panel that looked into the reasons for farmers’ suicides during the erstwhile S.M. Krishna regime when a slew of farmers’ suicide had caused concern amidst three consecutive drought years.
He is known for his pioneering efforts towards popularising organic farming in Karnataka. He had focussed on measures to shift towards organic farming in the interest of environment sustainability and health interests as early as 1996 as chairman of the Association for Promotion of Organic farming. In 2004, he had been given the official responsibility of popularising organic farming by appointing him as chairman of a mini-mission on organic farming in Karnataka.
He also served as chairman of State-level Committee on Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights and also as member of the then Karnataka Agricultural Commission. He was the recipient of certificate of appreciation award for research by the US Department of Agriculture in 1989. He was also a recipient of Hooker National Award for outstanding research on white grubs in 1982 and UAS-B award for outstanding research in Soil Biology and Ecology in 1981. The State government had honoured him with Rajyotsava Award in 2016. He was a Postgraduate Fellow at Rothemsted Experimental Station, U.K. and Oregon State University, Corvallis, UAS.
He was the founding president of the UAS-Bengaluru Alumni Association and had contributed a major part of his retirement benefits to the Association to take up farmers’ welfare measures.
