Role of Giant Honeybees in Natural and Agricultural Systems

Dr Dharam P. Abrol, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences, has served university in various capacities. He has specialized in pest management, honeybee management and pollination biology. He has authored 22 books, 12 manuals and published over 250 original research papers in variou national and international journals. He has completed several externally funded collaborative research projects with international organizations in Poland and Switzerland. Prof Abrol has visited South Korea, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and several other countries as a special invitee to these countries. In addition, he has received letters of appreciation from different organizations. Prof Abrol is a Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, India, and a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society London, UK. He is a recipient of the Young Scientist Award (1992) - conferred by the Jammu and Kashmir State Council for Science and Technology - a prestigious state award for his outstanding contributions in the field of agricultural sciences. He is also the recipient of Pran Vohra Award - 1993 - a prestigious Young Scientist Award conferred by the Indian Science Congress Association, Calcutta, for his outstanding and innovative research in the field of agricultural sciences. He was also conferred the Prof T. N. Ananthakrishnan Award 1997-1998 - a prestigious national award for his outstanding contributions in the field of entomology by the T. N. Ananthakrishnan Foundation, G.S. Gill Research Institute, Chennai. Prof Abrol won the Dr Rajendra Prasad Puruskar 1999-2000 award - a prestigious national award from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, for his Hindi book on beekeeping entitled 'MadhmakhiPalan-Sidhant Evam Vidhian'. He received the 11th Apicultural Association Award (2010) for outstanding contributions in apiculture. King Saud University conferred on him a gold medal for development of apiculture in Asia.