The University of Western Australia

W/Prof Kadambot H.M. Siddique, AM, FTSE

Chair in Agriculture/Director, Institute of Agriculture/Winthrop Professor
The UWA Institute of Agriculture

Contact details

Address

The UWA Institute of Agriculture
The University of Western Australia (M082)
35 Stirling Highway
CRAWLEY WA 6009
Australia

Phone

6488 7012

Fax

6488 7354

Email

kadambot.siddique@uwa.edu.au

Biography

Winthrop Prof Kadambot H.M. Siddique, AM, FTSE
Chair in Agriculture and Director, The UWA Institute of Agriculture
Associate Dean Research (Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences)
The UWA Institute of Agriculture

Contact details
Address:
The UWA Institute of Agriculture
The University of Western Australia (M082)
35 Stirling Highway
CRAWLEY WA 6009
Australia
Phone: 61 8 6488 7012
Fax: 61 8 6488 7354
Email: kadambot.siddique@uwa.edu.au

Winthrop Professor Kadambot Siddique holds a Bachelor of Agriculture (BSc Ag) with 1st class honours from Kerala Agricultural University, a Masters in Crop Physiology from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi and a PhD in Environmental and Crop Physiology from The University of Western Australia.

Born in Kerala India, Professor Siddique moved to Australia with his wife in August 1981 and completed his PhD at UWA. In 1985 he joined the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA)as a cereal crop physiologist and worked his way up to principal scientist and leader of DAFWA’s Pulse Program. He became the Director of Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (CLIMA) at UWA in 2001 and remained in this position until 2006 when he was appointed to establish and lead The UWA Institute of Agriculture. Professor Siddique is also currently the Associate Dean, Research, at the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at UWA.

Current Honorary Appointments:
•Guest Professor Lanzhou University, China
•Honorary Professor Gansu Academy of Agriculture Sciences, China
•Adjunct Professor Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Arid and Grassland Ecology, Lanzhou University
•Visiting Professor Faculty of Agricultural, Universiti Putra Malaysia
•Honorary Professor Hauzhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
•Adjunct Professor Beijing Forestry University, China
•Guest Professor Guangzhou University, China
•Visiting Professor King Saud University, Saudi Arabia
•Director, Canola Breeders Pty Ltd (www.canolabreeders.com.au)

Honours and Awards:
In 2011 Professor Siddique was made Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in Queen’s Birthday Honours List. The citation recognised his lifetime’s work in advancing agricultural science as an academic and researcher in the area of crop improvement and agronomy and through contributions to professional associations. In 2009 he received a gold medal and citation from the former President of India, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, for his international contribution to pulse research, development and education. In 2005 Professor Siddique was elected as a ‘Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering’ (ATSE). The citation recognised his outstanding contribution to Australian and international agriculture, particularly his innovative research and leadership in production agronomy, crop physiology, germplasm development and breeding of grain legumes (pulses) and cereal crops of benefit to the grains industry in Australia and overseas. In 2001, Professor Siddique received the prestigious ‘Urrbrae Memorial Award’ for his contribution to Australian agricultural science and the industry.

Professor Siddique is recognised internationally as a leader in crop science and agriculture. His contributions to agriculture can be illustrated by the following achievements:

•He has been instrumental in the establishment of the pulse industries in Western Australia and nationally through the development and release of chickpea, lentil and lathyrus varieties with superior quality and yield, and the enhancement of national co-ordination and linkage in pulse research and industry development.
•He has successfully supervised a number of PhD, Masters and Honours students at The University of Western Australia and Curtin University of Technology.
•He has attracted a large number of externally funded projects and been closely involved in the development and management of projects (supported by GRDC, ARC, ACIAR and AusAID) in Australia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Syria, Turkey,Saudi Arabia, Canada, Europe and USA.
• He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of various international agricultural science journals. He was the former Chair the Editorial Advisory Board of the Australia Journal of Agricultural Research. During 1998-2001 Professor Siddique was a member of the Grains Research and Development Corporation WA Panel (GRDC).

Publications

Professor Siddique has published 32 book chapters, 165 refereed journal papers and more than 180 technical and conference papers. Selected 12 are:

1.Siddique, K.H.M., Belford, R.K., Perry, M.W. and Tennant, D. (1989) Growth, development and light interception of old and modern wheat varieties in a Mediterranean-type environment. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 40: 473-487.
2.Siddique, K.H.M., Belford, R.K. and Tennant, D. (1990) Root:shoot ratios of old and modern, tall and semi-dwarf wheats in a Mediterranean environment. Plant and Soil 121: 89-98.
3.Loss, S.P. and Siddique K.H.M. (1994). Morphological and physiological traits associated with wheat yield increases in Mediterranean environments. Advances in Agronomy, 52: 229-276.
4.Siddique, K.H.M. and Whan, B.R. (1994). Ear: stem ratios in breeding populations of wheat: Significance for yield improvement. Euphytica, 73: 241-254.
5.Siddique, K.H.M., Tennant, D., Belford, R.K. and Perry, M.W. (1990) Water use and water use efficiency of old and modern wheat cultivars in a Mediterranean-type environment. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 41: 431-437.
6.Siddique, K.H.M., Regan, K.L., Tennant, D. and Thomson, B.D., (2001). Water use and water use efficiency of cool season grain legumes in low rainfall Mediterranean – type environments. European Journal of Agronomy, 15: 267-280.
7.Thomson, B.D. and Siddique, K.H.M. (1997). Grain legume species in low rainfall Mediterranean – type environments. II. Canopy development, radiation interception and dry matter production. Field Crops Research, 54: 189-199.
8.Shan, F., Clarke, H.J., Plummer, J.A., Yan, G. and Siddique, K.H.M. (2005) Geographical patterns of genetic variation in the world collections of wild annual Cicer revealed by amplified fragment length polymorphism. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 110: 381-391
9.Turner, N.C., Wright, G.C. and Siddique, K.H.M. (2001). Adaptation of grain legumes (Pulses) to water – limited environments. Advances in Agronomy, 71:193-223.
10.Fang, X., Turner, N.C., Yan, G., Li, F and Siddique, K.H.M. (2010) Flower numbers, pod production, pollen viability, and pistil function are reduced and flower and pod abortion increased in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under terminal drought. Journal of Experimental Botany 61: 335–345.
11.Flowers, T.J., Gaur, P., Gowda, C.L.L., Krishnamurthy, L., Samineni, S., Siddique, K.H.M., Turner, N.C., Vadez, V., Varshney, R.K and Colmer, T.D. (2010) Salt sensitivity in chickpea. Plant, Cell and Environment 33:490–509
12.Siddique, K.H.M., Johansen, C., Turner, N.C., Marie-Hélène Jeuffroy., Hashem, A., Sakar, D., Gan, Y. and Alghamdi, S.S (2011). Innovations in agronomy for food legumes: A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development DOI 10.1007/s13593-011-0021-5.

Current projects

Professor Siddique is currently involved with several research projects, with collaboration from Australia and internationally.

Research profile

Research profile and publications