Nikhil Ghosh HajraN. Ghosh Hajra was born on April 10, 1954 in Asansol, West Bengal. After schooling in Asansol, he entered City College, Kolkata, in 1969, and in 1972 he received his B.Sc. Biology honours degree. In 1974, N. Ghosh Hajra passed his M.Sc. specialising n Genetics from Calcutta University. He achieved a doctorate degree on Rice breeding in 1979 from Burdwan University and a Post-Doctorate in 1997 from University of Antwerpen, Belgium on crop improvement. He got training on Micotoxins and Food Safety at Central Science Laboratory, York, UK. Dr. Ghosh Hajra joined the National Rubber Research Institute of India as a Plant Breeder in 1980 and later became the Project Director of the Tea Board at India's Darjeeling Tea Research and Development Centre in 1988. Dr. Ghosh Hajra spent 18 years with the Tea Board of India and provided professional support to the stakeholders and government departments on different aspects of cultivation, research, export and marketing of tea. He nurtured productive relations with members of the tea industry, policy makers, stakeholders, scientists and organised several workshops, seminars and training programmes. Dr. Ghosh Hajra represented Tea Board of India to the national and international fora. He has had training experience in management and tea company privatization worldwide. He supervised the development of different projects on Darjeeling tea including FAO and Common Fund for Commodities, The Netherlands. Dr. Ghosh Hajra is currently Chief Consultant of Organic Tea & Agri-Horticultural Consulting, India. He worked as tea expert in World Bank project in Rwanda, Africa and Technical Adviser of Maple Orgtech (India) Ltd. Dr. Ghosh Hajra has more than 25 years of career success in designing, monitoring and evaluating a wide range of sustainable agricultural projects, and has demonstrated competencies in crop agronomy, protection, production and processing of tropical crops such as: tea, rubber, rice and other cereals, major fruits and vegetables, both organic and non-organic. Dr. Ghosh Hajra has authored a couple of books and published over one hundred research papers and monographs. His work has been translated into Bengali. He has lectured national universities and research institutes worldwide. He is a Gold Medalist, Fellow of the Academy of Plant Sciences in India, and has received the National Plant Scientist Award and International Award. He has been invited to be a speaker and session chairman at several international meetings/conferences including those held in Bordeau, France; York, UK; Beijing, China; Brussels, Belgium; Shizuoka, Japan and Jeju, Sunchon, Hedong in South Korea. Dr. Ghosh Hajra was a member of different committees of Tea Board, Govt. of India; Organic Certification APEEDA, Ministry of Commerce; Quality Council of India; Universities and Bureau of Indian Standards. A high energy, conscious, and goal-driven technology executive, Dr. Ghosh Hajra approaches each new challenge with his intrinsic flair for innovation, creative problem-solving, and measured risk-taking to drive consistent bottom-line improvements and economic returns. He maintains a personal website at www.dtrdc.org with additional information regarding his career and his credentials. Read More Read Less