David Bergvinson takes over as new director general of Icrisat

The governing board of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat) has appointed David Bergvinson as the next director general (DG) of the institute for a five-year term, effective January 1, 2015. He will replace William Dar who had been the DG since 1999.

Bergvinson is currently with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, USA, as senior program officer, crop value chains and digital design for agriculture development. He has been with the foundation since 2007. He currently represents the foundation on the CGIAR Fund Council.

"Science should not be an end in itself. Science is a means to mitigate poverty, eradicate malnutrition and provide environmentally sustainable solutions to the most pressing challenges faced by the smallholder farmer. Icrisat can achieve the impossible by forging strong partnerships with the public, private and civil society sectors. I look forward to working closely with all the staff and partners to realize Icrisat's vision of a prosperous, food-secure and resilient dryland tropics," Bergvinson stated in a press release here on Friday.

Icrisat is a non-profit organisation that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world. Headquartered in Patancheru near Hyderabad, it has two regional hubs and six country offices in sub-Saharan Africa. It is a member of the CGIAR Consortium (formerly known as Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research).