Dr. Ajit Kumar Karnataka Honored with the Honorary Fellow-2024 Award in New Delhi

On January 7, 2025, during the Foundation Day Ceremony of the Indian Entomological Society and the National Seminar on Frontiers in Entomology, Dr. Ajit Kumar Karnataka, Vice Chancellor of Maharana Pratap Agricultural and Technology University, was awarded the Honorary Fellow-2024 award. While presenting the award, the President of the Society, Dr. V.V. Rammoorthy, praised Dr. Karnataka's lifelong contributions to teaching, research, and dissemination in the field of entomology.

Dr. Karnataka has dedicated over forty years to outstanding service in the fields of agriculture and entomology. He is an expert in beekeeping, pest management in rice-wheat and sugarcane ecosystems, and soil bio-management. He introduced the *Apis mellifera* bee species in the Terai region and developed management techniques for beekeeping, which have increased honey, wax, and other honey product production, thus boosting farmers' incomes and enhancing the productivity of cross-pollinated crops. He also developed the beekeeping section of the agricultural portal for the Uttarakhand government. 

Dr. Karnataka was awarded the Best Vice Chancellor Award for 2021 by the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. In recent years, he has received numerous awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Community Mobilization for Sustainable Development, New Delhi; the Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Educator Award from Plantica - Association of Plant Science Researchers, Dehradun; and the Chaudhary Hansa Singh Award for his contribution to entomological research at the International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Allied Sciences. 

Dr. Karnataka has also been nominated to several key committees for the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020 by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, and the Honorable Governor of Rajasthan.