Editorial

Year 2018 started on ominous note, as we lost the Founder Chairman of Asian Agri-History Foundation (AAHF). Dr. Yeshwant Laxman Nene, Chairman Emeritus, AAHF suddenly passed away on 15 January 2018. Dr. YL Nene was born on 24 November 1936 in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India from where he completed his high school in 1951, and BSc. (Agri) degree in 1955. He obtained his Master’s degree in Plant Pathology in 1957 from Government Agriculture College, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. He got PhD. in Plant Pathology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA in 1960. He was formerly Professor and Head of Plant Pathology, GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India; and later worked as Pulses Pathologist, Pulses/Legumes Program Director, and Deputy Director General of ICRISAT, Hyderabad, India. He is fondly remembered as an inquisitive researcher, excellent teacher and a great human being. It was his vision to share the early innovations and ancient traditional knowledge that originated in Asia (especially in India) by searching the old documents from the libraries and private collections around the world, translate it to English and other languages, and publish them so that the world will get to know the greatness of ancient Asian civilizations. As a mark of respect and remembrance, we are dedicating this issue [Volume 22 (2)] as the Commemorative issue for late Dr. YL Nene. We have included a full length Commemorative Article in this issue on “Dr. Yeshwant Laxman Nene: A Legendary Agricultural Scientist and Pioneer of the Asian Agricultural Heritage”, prepared by Dr. SPS Beniwal, who was Dr. Nene’s student and colleague at Pantnagar.