Professor Gunvant M Desai worked in the Centre for Management in Agriculture from 29th September 1969 to 19th June 1986.

He was one of the founding faculty members of the Centre.

Prof. Desai earned his PhD from Cornell University. After his association with IIMA, he worked with the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington DC.

Some of his publications include Sustaining Rapid Growth in India's Fertilizer Consumption (1982); Fertilizer Use in India (1986) and Issues and Themes in Growth of Fertilizer Use in India (1991).

Prof. Desai devoted most of his life to research work on agricultural growth based on fertilizers-the most important productivity enhancing input of production. His wisdom on fertilizer use at the farm level had a strong philosophical basis. He observed that while there is always a significant gap between the production response to fertilizer at the farm and experimental station levels, the response at the farm level increases sustainably only when the potential response at the experimental level increases. This idea implies that research should receive high priority so that the potential for growth can be increased continuously. This led to his belief in agricultural research and faith in the need for continuous generating new technologies. Prof. Desai passed away in Rockville, Maryland in the United States.

Date of Birth: December 21, 1933

Date of Death: April 28, 2010