Background
Sourindra Mohan Sircar was born on March 1, 1908 in Paikpara (Nadia) in India.
Sourindra Mohan Sircar was born on March 1, 1908 in Paikpara (Nadia) in India.
Sourindra Mohan Sircar graduated from the Calcutta University in 1928. In 1931 he became Master of Science at he Calcutta University. He obtained Doctor of Philosophy at London University in 1936. He did research on Physiology of the Rice Plant. He was a Specialist in Plant Physiology.
Sourindra Sircar joined the Calcutta University in 1937 as a lecturer in botany and later became the head of the department. He was appointed director of the Bose Institute, Kolkata. He later worked at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London. He founded the school of Plant Physiology, which has made significant contributions to plant science research and teaching in India.
He was president of the Botany Section (1963) and also general President, Indian Science Congress (1977-1978).
Sourindra Sircar was appointed the General President of Indian Science Congress Association from 1977 to 1978, which is a professional body under the Ministry of Science and Technology. He wrote about 40 articles and research papers.
Sircar worked extensively on vernalization and photoperiodism. His studies showed that induction of early flowering of rice by the application of short-day treatment to seedlings for varying periods could be achieved, and that the photoperiodic effect of short days is of a quantitative nature as the degree of earliness for flowering increases with the duration of treatment. His findings on the nutrition of the rice plant was the basis of the fertilizer requirements of the indica varieties. He established that the photosynthetic efficiency of rice is secondary in importance to the translocation of photosynthates from leaf and stem to the ripening grains, in so far as grain yield is concerned. Using radioactivity assay technique, he demonstrated that the local tall varieties are not photosynthetically less efficient; rather some of them are more efficient than the short japonica varieties but deficiency in transport to the grains is the cause of the relatively low yield.
Sourindra Sircar was elected Fellow of the German Academy of Natural Sciences, Asiatic Society, Botanical Society of Bengal, Indian Society of Plant Physiology, Indian Photobiological Society, and Plant Biochemical Society (sometime President); also General Secretary (1927-75) and Vice President of International Botanical Congress Association (1975).
