Forty-eight years after graduating from Kerala Agricultural University in India, Hackett Professor Kadambot Siddique has been awarded a Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by his alma mater, acknowledging his outstanding contribution to global agricultural science, capacity building and academic leadership. 

Over the past four decades, the Director of The UWA Institute of Agriculture has built strong research and training partnerships with leading institutions in India and Australia. This includes collaborative projects, 189 papers jointly with Indian scientists, and the supervision of 12 PhD students and 25 postdoctoral fellows from Indian institutions.

His long-standing collaboration with Kerala Agricultural University led to the establishment of the College of Climate Change and Environmental Science in 2010. Fifteen years on, the partnership continues to evolve, recently marked by the signing of a joint 1+1 Master program in Agricultural Economics between The University of Western Australia and Kerala Agricultural University. An agreement to deliver a joint program in Environmental Science is also underway. 

Professor Siddique completed his undergraduate studies in agricultural science from Kerala Agricultural University in 1977. In his acceptance speech, he expressed deep gratitude to the university. 

"I remain ever grateful to my teachers and the university for laying a strong foundation in agricultural science, critical thinking, analytical reasoning and communication skills".

Hackett Professor Kadambot Siddique

 

He also said there was an urgent need to reimagine agriculture in the face of climate change, natural resource depletion, and food system fragility. “India and Kerala must move from traditional, labour-intensive farming to modern agribusiness systems that are capital and technology-intensive”.

Professor Siddique’s international collaborations span institutions such as ICAR institutions, ICRISAT, IITs, JNU and several state agricultural universities in India. His work has been supported by funding bodies including the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, ARC, CGIAR, GRDC, COGGO and the Australia–India Strategic Research Fund.

He has also contributed to India’s scientific community by serving on advisory boards, steering committees, and Australian Prime Ministerial science delegations.

The conferral took place at Kerala Agricultural University’s Annual Convocation on 26 June 2025 in the presence of the Chancellor  and the Governor of Kerala, Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Revenue Government of Kerala.