Dr. S. B. Mathur is the former Director of the Danish Government Institute of Seed Pathology for Developing Countries (DGISP), Denmark. Dr. Mathur spent most of his professional life conducting pioneering work in the field of seed pathology at the DGISP. For a period of over 35 years, Dr Mathur has been instrumental in creating awareness on the importance of seed health, the relationship between seed health and food production/food security, and the impact of good quality seed on increasing agricultural yield. This work has proven to be a milestone in Dr. Mathur's life. It has been his primary objective to fight seed-borne diseases, by finding cures, as well as by detecting seed-borne infections in the laboratory and in preventing outbreaks of diseases at an early stage, in formal and informal seed sectors. He has traveled to more than 70 countries on different missions.
Dr. Mathur has authored several books and more than 100 research articles and technical bulletins. Dr. Mathur’s contributions to international agriculture have been recognized by the international community when he received the prestigious FIS World Seed Prize in 1992, presented by the International Seed Federation, Switzerland; and more recently in 2002 when the Professor K. M. Safeeulla Gold Medal was presented to him by the University of Mysore, India. In 1989, Dr. Mathur received a Letter of Appreciation and Honour from the National Agricultural Research Council of Nepal. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Indian Society of Mycology and Plant Pathology (1991), the Indian Botanical Society (1992) and the Indian Society of Seed Technology (1994). In 2003, Dr. Mathur received a medal from the Government of Vietnam.
The Danish Government Institute of Seed Pathology for Developing Countries (DGISP) has been the brain-child of Dr. Mathur. The DGISP was financed and supported by Danida, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. More than 550 scientists and technologists from 73 developing countries have been educated and have conducted basic and applied research related to solving seed pathological problems at the DGISP. Dr. Mathur has trained more than 400 agricultural scientists from more than 70 countries in short courses that have been conducted in different countries of the developing world. Besides training, he has been responsible for planning and establishing seed health testing facilities in many countries of Asia (India, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea), Africa (Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe) and Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica). Also, Dr Mathur has been responsible for the introduction and monitoring of seed health at some of the CGIAR Centers (ICRISAT, IRRI, WARDA, CIAT, IITA, ICARDA, CIMMYT) and routine checking of germplasm for seed health at national plant quarantine inspection laboratories in many countries.
Dr. Mathur has recently established two educational Seed Pathology Centers, one in India for Asia and the other in Tanzania for Africa. The major goal of these Centers is to develop trained manpower for work on seed health issues, improvement in food and seed production, especially for resource-poor farmers.