B. V. Nimbkar

Bonbehari Vishnu Nimbkar is an Indian agricultural scientist and social worker, known for his pioneering work in the fields of animal husbandry and agriculture. He is the founder of Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute, a Phaltan-based non governmental organization engaged in research and development in animal husbandry and agriculture. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2006, for his contributions to Indian agricultural sector. In November 2016 he was given the Jamnalal Bajaj Award for application of science and technology for rural applications.
Biography.
B. V. Nimbkar, born on 17 July 1931 in Goa to Kamala Nimbkar ("nee" Elizabeth Lundy) and Vishnu Nimbkar. He attended George school, a Quaker run preparatory school in Newtown, Pennsylvania His mother also attended the same school After obtaining a master's degree from the University of Arizona, he returned to India. In 1956,he started farming in Phaltan, a taluka in western Maharashtra and is reported to have started a seed business and processing plant called Nimbkar seeds, with financial assistance from Rockefeller Foundation. In 1968, he founded the Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), a non profit non governmental organization, for advanced research in agriculture. The organization has since grown to include activities in renewable energy, animal husbandry and sustainable development. His company Nimbkar Seeds is credited with the introduction of pure-bred Boer goats for the first time in India.
Nimbkar remained the president of NARI till 1990 and the organization is presently headed by his daughter Nandini Nimbkar and assisted by Chanda Nimbker and Nandini's husband, Anil K. Rajvanshi. The organization is reported to have had many achievements such as the development of 2009 Global Sustainability Research Award winning Lantern-cum-stove, development of "NARI Suwarna" strain of Deccani sheep,; development of loose biomass gasifier for industrial heating applications method for artificial insemination in goats using frozen buck semen, breeding of high-yielding Southern African Boer sheep and development of hybrid sweet sorghum. The activities have earned the organization several awards including the "Science and Technology Innovation for Rural Development Award" of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 2007. Nimbkar has documented his researches by way of several articles published in national and international journals. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2006.