Society for Advancement of Wheat and Barley Research (SAWBAR) is pleased to invite nominations for the following awards and fellowships for the year 2025. The awards are conferred to researchers who have done pioneer work for cereal improvement in the field of plant breeding, genetics, seed science, physiology, biotechnology, plant pathology, agricultural entomology, agronomy, soil science, microbiology, physiology, agriculture engineering, biochemistry, social sciences, etc. The cereal crops that will be covered under awards are wheat, barley, rice, millets, maize, rye, oat, sorghum and triticale.
- Mahatim Singh Memorial Award (Annual-01)
(Sponsorship: Dr.GP Singh, Director, ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi in the memory of his late father, Professor Mahatim Singh)
- Eligibility: Any life member of SAWBAR of age 45 years or below who has outstanding research contributions in cereal crops with documentary evidence is eligible to apply.
- The award carries plaque of merit, certificate and a cash prize of ₹ 10,000/-
- MV Rao Memorial Award (Annual-01)
(Sponsorship: Jointly sponsored by Sri M Srinivas Rao, Trustee, MV Rao Foundation for Agriculture and Development, Hyderabad; Dr S.V. Sai Prasad, ICAR-IARI RS Indore; M/S Syngenta India Limited, Indore, Shri Manmohan Dhoot, Kanood and M/S Vasundhara Seeds, Ujjain in the honour of Shri Dr. MV Rao)
- Eligibility: Any life member of SAWBAR of age above 55 years who has done pioneer work in cereal crops with documentary evidence is eligible to apply.
- The award carries a plaque of merit, certificate and a cash prize of ₹ 10,000/-
- S. Nagarajan Memorial Award (Annual-01)
(Sponsorship: Jointly sponsored by Dr. Shantha Nagarajan, wife of Dr. S. Nagarajan, scientists of ICAR-IIWBR and AICRP on Wheat and Barley, and Wheat Research & Technology Fund (WRTF) in the memory of Dr. S. Nagarajan)
- Eligibility: Any life member of SAWBAR of age between 45-55 years and who has done pioneer work in cereal crops with documentary evidence is eligible to apply.
- The award carries a plaque of merit, certificate and a cash prize of ₹ 10,000/-
- S. Rajaram Outstanding Woman Scientist Award (Annual-01)
(Sponsorship: Jointly sponsored by SAWBAR and Wheat Research & Technology Fund WRTF in the memory of Dr. S. Rajaram)
- Eligibility: Any women life member of SAWBAR who has done outstanding work in cereal crops with documentary evidence is eligible to apply. There is no age limit for applying this award.
- The award carries a plaque of merit, certificate and a cash prize of ₹ 10,000/-
- S.A. Dadlani Memorial Award (Annual-01)
(Sponsorship: Sponsored by Dr. Narendra Dadlani, Former Director, National Seed Association of India, New Delhi & Dr Malavika Dadlani, Ex-Joint Director, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi in the memory of their late father Sh. S.A. Dadlani)
- Eligibility: Any life member of SAWBAR who has done outstanding research contributions in the field of conservation and utilization of cereal genetic resources with documentary evidence is eligible to apply. There is no age limit for applying this award.
- The award carries a plaque of merit, certificate and a cash prize of ₹ 10,000/-
- J.P. Chatrath Endowment Award (Annual-01)
(Sponsorship: Sponsored by Dr. Ravish Chatrath, Ex Principal Investigator, Crop Improvement, ICAR-IIWBR, Karnal to mark the achievements of his father Dr. J.P. Chatrath, a renowned Professor of Entomology at UHF, Solan)
- Eligibility: Any life member of SAWBAR who has done outstanding work in the field of cereal crop protection with documentary evidence is eligible to apply. There is no age limit for applying this award.
- The award carries a plaque of merit, certificate and a cash prize of ₹ 10,000/-
- Best Research Paper Award (Annual-01)
- This award will be conferred after scrutinizing the articles of Volume 16 (2024) based on the novel research idea and its presentation in the article.
- The award carries a certificate and a memento.
- Most Cited Paper Award (Annual-01):
- This award will be conferred to a highly cited article that is published during the last five years (2020-2024) in JCR.
- The award carries a certificate and a memento.
- SAWBAR Fellowship {Annual-Total Fellows: 06 (Crop Improvement:3, Crop Protection and Quality and Basic Sciences:2 & Resource Management and Social Sciences-1)}
- Eligibility: Any active life member of SAWBAR who has completed 5 years of SAWBAR membership by closing date of this award announcement, and has done outstanding contribution in cereal improvement with documentary evidence is eligible to apply.
- The fellow will receive a certificate and a memento.
General Guidelines for Applying Various SAWBAR Awards & Fellowship
- The applicant must be a life member of the Society for applying SAWBAR Awards and Fellowship at the time of application submission. Life membership can be availed at the time of the application submission or before applying for SAWBAR awards. For applying for SAWBAR fellowship, the applicant must be a life member of the Society for at least 5 years at the closing date of award announcement i.e., 15th July 2025.
- The applicant can only apply for any one of the SAWBAR awards or fellowship. Applicant cannot apply for Award and fellowship at the same time.
- The applicant who has received any of the SAWBAR Awards in past three years (2022-2024) is not eligible for the applying award. SAWBAR office bearers are also not eligible for any of the awards except SAWBAR Fellowship.
- Claim made in application form without proof will not be entertained and no marks will be given for the claim. For technology claim, please attach proper document in the form of publication in the peer reviewed journal or package of practice recommended by the recognized authority. Your name and role should be clearly indicated in the claim attached, otherwise no marks will be granted. Claim made under one section of the form cannot be repeated under another section as a proof.
- The minimum marks of 60 are required for qualifying for the award. However, minimum marks of 50 are required for qualifying for the fellowship. Applicants getting equal and maximum marks will share the award.
- In all matters relating to the award and fellowship, the decision of the selection committee shall be final and no correspondence on this account will be entertained.
- The award(s) will be presented during the Annual General Body meeting of the Society during the Annual AICRP workshop in August, 2025.
- For more detailed guidelines and downloading of the application form, please visit the Society’s website https://sawbar.in
- Please use prescribed application form only. Any other format will not be considered.
Last date for submission of the application form
- The duly signed complete application form in the prescribed format and forwarded by the Competent authority along with proofs in a single pdf file should be mailed to the General Secretary, SAWBAR at email ID: sawbargs@gmail.com on or before July 15, 2025. No updates/reprints/additional information shall be considered after the closing date. Hard copy of the application is not required.
- Application form should be numbered starting from first page and page numbers should be continued on the proofs as well.
- In the application form, for marking the entry, page number of claims should be entered accordingly in the form so that the reviewing committee members can easily track the concerned proof of the claim.
Before sending the application form, please ensure the following:
- Application should be signed by the applicant on page no. 5 of the form.
- Self-assessment of the applicant on page 5 is mandatory. Reviewing committee members after checking the application will grant the final marks secured by the candidate.
- All the proofs should be attached with proper page numbering.
- Proof of Age is mandatorily required for certifying the age of the applicant.
- Ensure that all the information provided in the Application Form is correct to the best knowledge of the applicant. No false claim(s) should be given in the form. If found, the application/award is liable to be rejected/revoked.