Dr. Md. Abdul Awal, Director General, Bangladesh Jute Research Institute

Renowned agricultural scientist and prominent economist Dr. Md. Abdul Awal has taken over as the Director General of Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) on Sunday 29 May 2022 as per the order issued by the Ministry of Agriculture. Earlier, he served as the Member Director of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC). He also served as the Director (Administration and Finance) of the Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI) in Dinajpur.

Dr. Awal obtained B.Sc. Ag. Econ (Hons.) from Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh in 1994 and MS degree in Agricultural Economics from the same university in 1996. He did his PhD degree from Bangladesh Agricultural University in 2008. Later, he did a Post-Doctoral degree in Agricultural Economics in 2013 from Cornell University in the United States.

Dr. Awal started his career in 1997 as a scientific officer at the On-Farm Research Division (OFRD) of the Regional Agricultural Research Station in Jamalpur. Later, he was promoted to Senior Scientific Officer and performed as Head at the On-Farm Research Division of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute in Mymensingh. Dr. Awal joined at BARC in 2012 as a Principal Scientific Officer. He later served as BARC's Chief Scientific Officer (Planning and Evaluation Division). He played an important role in improving the socio-economic condition of the farmers as well as in transferring the technology developed by BARI at various Farming Systems Research and Development (FSRD) sites, identifying problems in crop economic analysis and marketing. He contributed to the formation of the NARS's different policies and plans, including the Agricultural Policy 2018, Seventh Five Year Plan (2016-2020), Vision 2021, Perspective Plan 2021-2041, Delta Plan 2100, and others. Along with coordinating the projects' monitoring, funding, and evaluation, he is in responsible for formulating the DPP/TAPP/RADPP for various projects of NARS and Ministry of Agriculture. In addition to research activities, Dr Awal was twice elected General Secretary of the BARC Officers' Association in 2013-15 and 2016-18. He was the Organizing Secretary of Bangladesh Agricultural University Alumni Association and General Secretary of PhD Students Association in Bangladesh Agricultural University (2004-2008).

Dr. Awal is one of the senior scientists in the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) and a pioneer of Agriculture & Agricultural Economics. He has published more than 110 scientific research articles in national and international scientific domains. Dr. Awal attended several international seminars, symposiums and training programs on agricultural research at home and abroad. Over the last two decades, Dr. Awal represents Bangladesh in terms of agricultural development and progress in Thailand, France, Belgium, Italy, China, Germany and the United States.

Dr. Md. Abdul Awal was born in 1970 in a respected Muslim family in Dakkin Ranigaon village under Sherpur district. He married Shafali Khatun in 1997. He is blessed with three daughters.