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Educator, Innovator & Scholar

Professor Biswas was a professor for about 40 years. His publications include more than 80 journal articles, book chapters, scientific reports and conference proceedings. He founded the Department of Irrigation and Water Management at BAU in 1973, and he served as Head of the Department for 12 years. Three times he became the Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology at BAU.

He led multiple projects on agriculture, irrigation and water management funded by international development organizations, including CARE International, the Ford Foundation, GTZ, IIMI, UNDP, USAID, and World Bank.

Professor Biswas served as a member of the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (1997 – 2001). His work experience as a public service commission member offered him a realization that there was a need for reform to close the gap between institutional education and national needs.

Disclaimer:

The following information about Dr. Biswas's research, publications and consultancy work was gathered from the 2001 version of his curriculum vitae (CV). There may be some incomplete information and formatting inconsistency that we will plan to update in the future.

Research

Professor Dr. Mozibur Rahman Biswas (1939 - 2020) graduated in Mechanical Engineering (1961) from the Ahsanaullah Engineering College (currently, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology), University of Dhaka. Later he received his master's in Agricultural Engineering (1964) and his Ph.D. (1970) from the Texas A&M University, USA. He was one of the first two engineers who pioneered Agricultural Engineering Education in Bangladesh (Since 1962).

Although Dr. Biswas had a basic degree in Mechanical Engineering, he advanced his knowledge in Soil Water Engineering with emphases on water conservation and hydraulic structure (in his master’s degree) and in groundwater hydrology with specific attention to groundwater recharge (in his Ph.D. dissertation). Dr. Biswas has been actively working in irrigation management and farmer-managed irrigation system as his special interests since 1971.

Professor M.R. Biswas's involvement in irrigation research in addition to his teaching and other academic activities at the Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) were well documented. He led several multidisciplinary research projects involving scientists of various disciplines. His research created awareness among women on how to address different issues relating to irrigation management and strategies. He successfully disseminated the results of his research through professional journal articles, formal reports and monographs, and proceedings of national and international conferences, seminars and workshops.

His work on on-farm irrigation water management problems (Bureau of Socio-economic Research and Training, BAU, 1982), evaluation of the role of different irrigation institutions (IWM-11, BAU Series, 1985), irrigation water market in Bangladesh (IWM-12, BAU Series, 1986) and irrigation management for crop diversification in Bangladesh (The University Press Limited, Dhaka, 1993) have been widely referred by the consultants, the policymakers and the researchers. His work was also utilized in various aspects of irrigation management in Bangladesh. Many research findings shaped the formulation of the national irrigation and water management policies.

Biswas was conversant about the dynamics of minor irrigation systems and rural development endeavors. He led a multidisciplinary research project (1987-95) on "Crop Diversification: an Alternative Strategy for Improving the performance of the irrigation Water Market in Bangladesh" and shared this project experience in an ADB-funded impact study on sustainable water resource uses for agro-ecosystems and in the evaluation of the performance of (minor) irrigation privatization in Bangladesh.

Consultancy

USAID's Dhaka Office.

Ford Foundation, Dhaka ( 1974- 1988).

CARE Bangladesh (1981 - 1982)

Provided one year supervisory service for improving irrigation water distribution and utilization through its Deep tubwell irrigation and credit program ( popularly known as DTICP) between 1981-1982.

GTZ (German Technical Assistance)

Provided time-to-time consulting service to develop deep tubewell command area for irrigation in its Tangail Agricultural Development Project (Bangladesh in the mid 1980s)

Dhaka office of World Bank (1983 - 1988)

Providing short time consulting service for the specific issue on low cost canal lining (in 1983) and for evaluating Agricultural Research support to Bangladesh agricultural research council, specifically water management comportment.

UNDP Bangladesh

Incorporating irrigation water management issues for agriculture (in 1988)

Sir Macdonald and partners (in Dhaka)

Sharing evaluation exercise with Rural Development Academy for the deep tubwell irrigation project (financed by ODA) in 1992.

IMMI, Dhaka

Evaluating irrigation privatization in Bangladesh for ADB (in 1994).

Others

Enriching experience through sporadic links established with IRRI (Philippines), IIMI (Srilanka ), AIT (Thailand)

Some of his extensive field studies include:

water users' association (of Indonesia in 1982 and 1986),

national irrigation administration (known as NIA of Philippines in 1986),

IARI- Delhi for water technology in 1978 (India),

farm machanization and rain water catchment in 1992 (Japan),

Valley water management in 1993 (Nepal),

Isotopes in ground water in 1978 (Sweden)

soil water conservation in 1978 (Egypt)

Publications

Journal Articles, Research Reports and the Proceeding Publication

1. Effect of water layer thickness on the impact four centimeters of water droplets on a soil surface . Texas Agricultural experiment station , College Station Texas . USA. DTR . No 1. (August) 1964 (co-authored with his professor E. T. Smerdon).

2. Change the farmers attitude. Action, professional, journal for HOP/AID participant, Economic affairs division, president’s secretariat Government of Pakistan. Vol 4 . No 1 (September) 1966.

3. Estimation of water later thickness on soil surface to protect top soil erosion from the impact of water droplets. Journal The Pakistan Engineer. Vol 7. No 9 . 1967.

4. Prediction of ground water recharge rate with sediment laden water . PhD dissertation Texas A & M University. December 1970. Dissertation abstracts international. B Sceience and engineering. Vol 32. ( July 1971).

5. Variation of porosity and grain size on washing of sand filter. Journal of Institution of the Engineers. Bangladesh Vol 1 No 1 (1973).

6. Deposition of suspended solids in the aquifer due to sediment laden water recharged. Journal of the Institution of the Engineers. Bangladesh Vol _. No 2 . (with discussion and author’s reply ).

7. Computer technique for evaluating ground water recharging medium. Bangladesh Journal of Agricultural Sciences. Vol. 1. 1974.

8. Variation of hydraulic conductivity due to turbid water flow. Bangladesh Journal of Soil Science. Vol 8. No 1. 1974.

9. Variation of hydrostatic pressure in the aquifer due to sediment laden water recharge. Journal of the Institution of Engineers. Bangladesh. Vol 2. No 1. (April). 1974.

10. On investigating the coefficient of retardation of flow due to the growth of water hyacinth in Irrigation and drainage ditches. A progress report (University research sceme) Department of irrigation and water management, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, (December) 1973 (co-authored with junior colleague A. Ali).

11. Effect of water hyacinths on the hydraulic capacity of flow in irrigation ditches. Journal of the Institution of Engineers. Bangladesh. Vol 1 No 4. ( January) 1974. ( author’s reply) Same Journal Vol 2. No 1 ( april), 1974.

12. An appraisal of ground water conditions in the Northern Areas of Dinajpur. Journal of the Institution of the Engineers. Bangladesh Vol 1. No 4. ( January) 1974. (co-authored with his student L. R Khan).

13. On investigating the multiple cropping schedule for minimum irrigation need. Journal of the Institution of Engineers. Bangladesh. Vol 3, No 1. (April) 1975.

14. Manual on application of irrigation on rice and jute (in Bangla). Irrigation and water management Department: BAU, Mymensingh. (September) 1975.

15. "Implementing engineering research in a university." Proceeding of the seminar on engineering education organised by Bangladesh National Engineers Association and UNESCO (November) 1975.

16. "Seepage reduction in the irrigation ditches with clay soil and cow dung." Proceeding of the seminar on Integrated Rural Development, organized by the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (November 29- December 2) 1975 ( Sharing with his student I. Islam).

17. Manual on minimum irrigation and multiple cropping ( written in Bangla ). Irrigation and water management Dept. BAU, Mymensingh (December) 1975 (with his student F. Ali).

18. Effect of drainage on the growth and yield of rice in Bangladesh. Journal of the Institution of Engineers. Bangladesh. Vol. 3, No. 3-4, (October) 1975 (with associates Habibullah, Rahman, Ali, and Enayetullah).

19. "Irrigation requirement and water management of field crops." Proceeding of the seminar on water management and control at the farm level, sponsored jointly by the FAO and the planning Commission of Govt. of Bangladesh, (March) 1976 (co-authored with his student F. Ali).

20. "An investigation into the factors affecting the command area of different irrigation facilities in Bangladesh" (progress report). Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council. (April) 1976 (with associates Rahman, Momen and Hossain).

21. Determining consumptive use of water for IRRI-8 paddy (Progress Report). BAU Research Series (April). 1976.

22. An appraisal of ground water conditions in Dinajpur district (Progress report). IWM. No.5. Bangladesh Agricultural University. (September) 1976.

23. "Investigating the water bearing formations in Dinajpur District." Proceeding of the convention. Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh. (December). 1976.

24. Optimum quantity and frequency of application of irrigation water in wheat cultivation and the efficiency of fertilizer. Utilization by wheat plants in Bangladesh soils using a tracer technique (IAEA research, Agriculture, Contract No 1824/RB, 1976). Progress report. Institute of Nuclear Agriculture , Mymensingh,1977 (co-authored with associates Habibullah, Rahman and Ali).

25. "Beel water management." Proceeding of the National Seminar on Irrigation and water management. Organized by FAO- and Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh. (May)1977.

26. An investigation into the factors affecting the command area of different irrigation facilities in Bangladesh (progress report). Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council , Dhaka. (June) 1977. (co-authored with associates Rahman and Hossain).

27. Quality of ground water in dinajpur district for irrigation use. Journal of Agricultural Science, Vol 4. No 2. (July) 1977.

28. Chemical effect of ground water irrigation on farm lands in Dinajpur District. IWM. No. 6. Bangladesh Agricultural University (July )1977.

29. Studies on the influence of drainage as a cultural practice in increasing rice yields. Current Science (India). Vol 46. No. 14. (July). 1977. (co-authored with Habibullah, Rahman and Enayetullah).

30. "Chemical effect of ground water irrigation on farm lands in Dinajpur District." Proceeding: Annual Conference of Bangladesh association of advancement for science. (January), 1978.

31. Agro-based food of engineering education for developing countries (Paper Bangladesh). Commonwealth regional workshop on rural technology. Dhaka, (January) 1978 (co-authored with Hamid Mia).

32. "Restructuring of engineering education for developing countries." Proceeding of COSTED workshop on Technological Education and national development. AIT Bangkok, Thailand, (February) 1978.

33. Consumptive use for IRRI-8 paddy. Bangladesh Journal of Agricultural Science. Vol 5. No 2 (July) 1978.

34. "An investigation into the factors affecting the command area of different irrigation facilities in Bangladesh." Research Report. Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, Dhaka (December) 1978. (with associates Rahman, Jaim and Hossain).

35. Soil and climatological characteristics of Bangladesh Agricultural University Farm areas. IWM. No 7. BAU. Research Series (January) 1979.

36. Response of four wheat cultivates to different levels of irrigation and NPK fertilizers in Ganges flood plain soil of Bangladesh. IWM. No. 9. BAU. Research series. November 1980.

37. "The determination of irrigation water and fertilizer phosphorus requirements of wheat in Bangladesh using tracer technique isotopes and radiation in research on soil plant relationships." Proceeding series STI PUB/ SOI, AIEA, 1979 (co-authored with associates Habibullah and Idris).

38. "Conserve water before it grows out of grasp." Proceeding of the special session on water conservation. Annual Convention. Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh. (December) 1979.

39. "Causes of low command area and suggested measures." Proceeding of the Annual Convention. Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh. (December) 1979.

40. "Keynote speech on the past, present and future of engineering education in Bangladesh." Proceeding of Annual national Seminar on Science and Technological Education. Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, organized by BAAS (October)1980.

41. Yields response of semi-dwarf wheat variety to irrigation in a calcareous brown flood plain soil of Bangladesh. Journal of Agricultural Water Management. Netherlands. Vol 3. No3 1981 (co-authored with A. K. Kaul).

42. "On efficient irrigation project management." Proceeding of the 4^th Afro- Asian Conference of ICID held in Nigeria. Vol II, ( January) 1982.

43. "On farm irrigation water management problems" (A document based on the findings of an action research by seven contributors). Edited for Bureu of Socioeconomic Research and Training. BAU. Mymensingh. (January) 1982.

44. Contribution of ground water in the evapo-transpiration demand of soybean. AMA. Vol XIII. No 3 Summer. ( Japan) 1982 (co-authored with his student Hassanuzzaman).

45. Studies on the irrigation requirement and yield performance of wheat in the Ganges flood plain soil. IWM. No. 10. Irrigation and water management. BAU. Mymensingh. (June ) 1982.

46. Scope of canal lining in Bangladesh. (Report of the World Bank). Dhaka. (September) 1982.

47. "Feasibility study of channel linings for minor irrigation project in Bangladesh." Prepared for the wotld bank. Dhaka. (April) 1983.

48. Projection of water distribution system in deep tubewell areas, an effort for improving water management (prepared for CARE/Bangladesh), Dhaka (June) 1982.

49. Response of wheat cultivars to irrigation and fertilization application. AMA ( JAPAN) Vol.14. No 4. 1984 (co-authored with Rahman and Basak).

50. "Planning and management of small irrigation projects." Seminar on information for improved irrigation planning and management. BUET. Dhaka. (March) 1984.

51. "Control measures for avoiding water losses to achieve efficient water distribution at farm level Irrigation systems." Proceedings: Workshop on improved distribution System for Minor irrigation in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council. Dhaka. (July). 1984.

52. Evaluating the role of Institutions in irrigation programs: Some preliminary findings. IWM. No. 11, BAU. Research series, (November) 1985.

Papers (other than editorial work) incorporated in research document: IWM-11, BAU series 1985 - 1986.

53. Management crisis in minor irrigation in Bangladesh

54. Performance of minor irrigation under different management institution at a glance.

55. Summary and discussion (editorial).

56. Precast low cost canal selection for irrigation canals. BJWRS. Vol. 6. No. 1. (December) 1985.

57. "Crop diversification with existing irrigation management. A challenge in Bangladesh." Proceedings IIMI workshop at Dinga Village, Sri Lanka. (November 24 - 28). 1986.

58. Water market in Bangladesh- inefficient and in equitable. IWM. No. 12. BAU series. Mymensingh. (November). 1986.

Papers (other than editorial work) incorporated in the research document: IWM 12. BAU series 1986.

59. A review of management issues in minor irrigation scheme.

60. Issues in the evaluation of minor irrigation management.

61. Evaluation report agricultural engineering, irrigation and water management (Agricultural Research Project). Evaluation report Cr. 1455-BD of IDA. World bank Dhaka (November) 1987.

62. Handbook (Bangla Version): "Water Management for small scale irrigation Sceme." National Institute of local government. Dhaka. 1987.

63. Determination of deep tube well from step down tests. Bangladesh Journal of water resources research. Vol 91. (December) 1987. (co-authored with his student S. Das).

64. Illusion in IMP. Working Paper for agricultural review. UNDP. Dhaka. Bangladesh 1988.

65. Feasibility of Irrigation Canal Lining in Bangladesh. Water resources Development. Vol 4(3). Butterworth and Co. (Publishers) Ltd. U.K. (September) 1988. (co-authored with Mandal, Dutta and A. Khair).

66. "An introspection of Bangladesh Irrigation Management." Proceeding of Intl Confe on Irrigation: Theory and practice. (Ed.) J. R. Rydzewski and C. F. Ward IIs. University of Southampton. 1989.

67. "Interaction between design versus operation and maintenance of Farmer Management Irrigation System." Proceedings of FMIS Network Int Workshop. IIMI Changmai, Thailand. 1989.

68. Quality of groundwater for irrigation on the north western region of Bangladesh. Journal of Agricultural Research. 14(1). 1989.

69. "On improving the irrigation water market through crop diversification." A concept paper in proceedings of workshop on Irrigation Management for Crop diversification. Held in BAU, Mymensingh on March 5 - 6, 1991.

70. "Balancing Irrigation water for diversified crops: A technical investigation." Proceedings of workshop on irrigation Management for crop diversification. Held in BAU, Mymensingh, March 5 - 6, 1991.

71. "Evaluation of IDA Tube well II demonstration Scheme on Evaluation." Rural Development Academy. Bogra. Bangladesh. January 1992.

72. "Raising productivity of rice based irrigation system in Bangladesh." Proceeding of international workshop on soil and water engineering for field management. AIT, Thailand ( January ) 1992.

73. "Environmental impact assessment of Patha–Khali KONAI project on Agosystem: An inception report for sustainable water use." IFCDR- KTH study Group (Sweden) and BUET. Dhaka, Bangladesh. 1992.

74. "Rain Water Conservation for Farm use in dry season." Proceeding of the regional conference on rain water catchment system association. Held in Kyoto. Japan, October 4 - 10, 1992.

75. Irrigation management for crop diversification in Bangladesh. Research monograph. The university press limited. Dhaka. January, 1993. (specific contributions to No. 75).

76. On improving the irrigation water market through crop diversification (Chapter 1).

77. Balancing irrigation water for diversified crops (Chapter 2).

78. "Unrealized potentials for improving the performance of Bangladesh Irrigation systems." Proceedings of the ICID Congress 1993. The Hague, The Netherlands (30 august- 12 september). 1993.

79. An investigation into the factors affecting seepage loss in small earth channels. Journal of the Institution of engineers, Bangladesh. Vol 22. No 1. January 1994.

80. Design study (Chapter 1). Crop diversification: Findings From the field Research Program (eds. by M. A. S. Mandal and S. C. Dutta). The University Press Limited (ISBN 98405-13-18), Dhaka. Bangladesh 1995.

81. Some climatic factors affecting irrigated crop diversification (Chapter IX). Crop diversification: Findings from the field research program (eds by Mandal and Dutta). The University press Limited ( ISBN 98405- 13-18) Dhaka. Bangladesh 1995.

82. "Farmers Choice on sustainable and equitable irrigation systems in Bangladesh." Proceedings on the 16^thCongress of ICID held in Cairo, Egypt. (September) 1996.