Purushottam Amatya and PPD Fund – Plant Nematology
This fund has been established in honor of Mr. Purushottam Amatya (born August 1937), a pioneer plant nematologist of Nepal, and in memory of long named Plant Pathology Division (PPD), which has served Nepal as a center for the management of plant diseases. The Plant Pathology Division established as Plant Pathology Section of the Department of Agriculture in 1954 under the visionary leadership of the first plant pathologist of Nepal, Mr. Bed Bahadur Khadka. The division has recently been renamed as the National Plant Pathology Research Centre, under the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC).
Mr. Amatya’s primary work in plant nematology still holds a major basis for research in the field. His long and able leadership to the Division has contributed to the growth and capacity of PPD to the present state. Also, his voluntary contribution in structural set-up and functional linkages among various sectors of agricultural research and development has directly and indirectly influenced the organizational changes in the past. Mr. Amatya also served as the first Executive Director of Nepal Agricultural Research Council after the NARC Act was passed by the Parliament of Nepal in 1991 and contributed to foundation of national agricultural research system in the country. He is a kind hearted, visionary and one of the most respected persons for his honesty and unselfishness in the agricultural research and development sector of Nepal. He has been felicitated by several government and non-governmental organizations in a number of occasions for his past good deeds. In 2017, he was honored by Plant Protection Directorate of the Department of Agriculture and in 2019 by Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) for his outstanding contributions in agricultural sciences.