Munshi Siddique Ahmad


Munshi Siddique Ahmad was a Bangladeshi rice scientist. He served as the associate director of the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute. He developed BRRI Shail, which was responsible for increasing rice production – from 8 million tons in 1965 to 20 million tons in 1975. In 1997, he earned Independence Day Award in the science and technology category from the Government of Bangladesh.

Education

Ahmad passed ISc from Government Rajendra College, Faridpur, in 1946. He then moved to Dhaka and got admitted into The Bengal Agricultural Institute under the University of Dhaka. He graduated from the college in 1949, and completed his master's degree in agriculture from the University of Dhaka in crop botany in 1956. In 1968, he earned his Ph.D. degree in plant genetics from Texas A&M University.

Career

Ahmad served as the head of the breeding division at BRRI. He developed more than 30 new varieties of HYV rice, e.g. BR3, BR4, BR10, and BR11.

Awards

In 1969, Siddique Ahmad was awarded the Tamgha-e-Pakistan, but he renounced it in March 1971, during the non-cooperation movement against the-then Government of Pakistan. Besides, under his leadership, the breeding division of BRRI received the President's Award in 1977 and the FAO Bronze Plaque in 1980.