BGRFDr Arun Kumar Saha

Agriculture Specialist
Former Senior Project Officer/Unit Head, Agriculture & Natural Resources
Bangladesh Resident Mission, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
E-mail: asaha43@gmail.com Skype ID: arunsaha43

Education. B Sc Agriculture (Honors), M Sc Agriculture degrees from Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh in 1973 and 1974 respectively, and Ph D in Agronomy in 1984 from the University of the Philippines at Los Banos (UPLB), Philippines with thesis research at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), as a Rockefeller Foundation fellow. 

Work Experience. More than 40 years of professional experience that includes more than four years of expert consultancy services with ADB, World Bank, and IFAD, more than 10.5 years at Asian Development Bank (ADB) as core specialist, about 11 years in other Development Partners supported development projects as agriculture specialist, 13.5 years with public research (BRRI) as research scientist and one year at public input supply organization (BADC) as seed specialist in Bangladesh. 

Accomplishments and Publications. While at ADB, worked as Task Manager/Team Leader, administered and successfully completed 7 loan and TA projects; prepared 5 project completion reports (PCRs) and 2 technical assistance completion reports (TCRs), in addition, prepared a total of 118 research articles/ reports/ guidelines/ training handouts prepared, of which, 15 articles were published in books/national and international journals. I have proven track records for ensuring results in the ground with excellent monitoring and performance assessment/evaluation skills and report writing ability.  

Interests. Moto is empowerment in agriculture and the keen interests include contributing effectively and sustainably towards livelihood improvement including  socio-economic empowerment of the farmers, in particular, ensuring household food and nutrition security, promoting high value crops, improving on-farm entrepreneurship and productivity, promoting agribusiness and value chain development, skill training management, ensuring safe and diversified food products, reducing crop losses through effective risk management including crop insurance, and adapting impacts of climate change. 

Key Expertise. (i) Project planning and implementation including management, monitoring and procurement; policy formulation and implementation; and ensuring effective development services delivery; (ii) planning and designing programs/projects; sector analysis; feasibility assessment; evaluation and impact analysis; liaison and coordination; partnership building; training/workshop management; (iii) Commercially viable high technology on-farm agriculture including crop diversification, promoting high value crops and value chain development, contract farming, and on-farm entrepreneurship development (economic and financial analysis; partnership building in services delivery; credit operation; dissemination of appropriate production technologies; reducing crop losses through risk management including crop insurance; and adapting impacts of climate change); (iv) human and skills training/education development for agriculture development, management and institutional development; and (iv) Research and development (varietal improvement research including participatory plant breeding; on-station and on-farm cropping pattern based multi-location trials; germplasm collection and maintenance including quality seed production; and dissemination of appropriate modern production technologies.

Faith and Believe. Firm faith and believe in Sonaton Hindu religion and Lord Krishna having high desire and inclination to know more about Shrimad Bhagabat Gita undertaking in-depth research on its philosophy, science and intellectual base for wellbeing and humanitarian welfare of mankind.