Munshi Siddique Ahmad
Munshi Siddique Ahmad was a Bangladeshi rice scientist. He served as the associate director of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute. He developed BRRI Shail, which was responsible for increasing rice production – from 8 million tons in 1965 to 20 million tons in 1975. In 1997, he earned Independence Day Award in the science and technology category from the Government of Bangladesh.Education
Ahmad passed ISc in the second division from Government Rajendra College in Faridpur District in 1946. He then moved to Dhaka and got admitted into The Bengle Agricultural Institute under the University of Dhaka. He graduated from the college in 1949, and completed his masters in agriculture from the University of Dhaka in crop botany in 1956. In 1968, he earned his Ph.D. degree in genetics and plant breeding from Texas A&M University.Career
Ahmad served as the head of the breeding division at BRRI. He developed more than 30 new varieties of HYV rice — BR3, BR4, BR10, and BR11.Awards
In 1969, Ahmad was awarded the Tamgha-e-Pakistan but he renounced it in March 1971, during the non-cooperation movement against the-then Government of Pakistan. Besides, under his leadership, the breeding division of BRRI received the President's Award in 1977 and the FAO Bronze Plaque in 1980.
