Dr. William D. Dar

Dr. William D. Dar is a champion of the poor especially the small farmers and fisherfolks. Earlier in 1988, he was awarded the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) of the Philippines. In 2016, Dr. Dar was awarded The Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL) Award in cognizance of his servant-leadership, which was instrumental in transforming the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) from a struggling institute to one of the top performing centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). In his 15 years of outstanding achievements as Director General of ICRISAT, he championed and institutionalized an overarching strategy called Inclusive Market-Oriented Development (IMOD), in which the farmers become active participants for their own welfare. The same strategy is now being advocated by him in pursuit of inclusive agribusiness in the Philippines.

Prior to his international stint, he taught with distinction at Benguet State University (BSU) with the rank of Professor 6 and served as its Vice President for R&D in 1985-1987. He was the founding Director of the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) in 1987-1994; served as Executive Director of the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) in 1994-1998, and Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA) under President Joseph Estrada in 1998-1999. Under his watch at the DA, the Philippine agriculture achieved a remarkable 9.6% growth, which has never been equaled until today.

In 2014, he founded the InangLupa Movement Inc. that advocates and calls action for agricultural modernization and rural industrialization anchored on four pillars: inclusiveness, science-based, resilient, and market-oriented development. He now writes a regular weekly column called “Ways of the Oasis” in The Manila Times. From his weekly columns he published the book titled ‘The Way Forward: Modernization and Industrialization of the Philippine Agriculture’. He also advises Go Negosyo in the areas of agriculture and agripreneurship. Presently, he is the Country Representative of Prasad Seeds Philippines Inc.

Dr. Dar obtained his Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education from the Mountain State Agricultural College (MSAC), now BSU, in 1973; Master of Science in Agronomy from MSAC in 1976, and Doctor of Philosophy in Horticulture from the University of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB) in 1980. Cognizant of his leadership and laurels, he was awarded eight (8) doctorate degrees honoris causa by various higher educational institutions in the country.

Dr. Dar was born on April 10, 1953 in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur, married to Beatriz Meria and with four children – May, William Jr (+), Celeste and Christine.