Other Activities

Experiences:

7. In Bangladesh
8. At the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU) from 2005- till today–

• Responsible for teaching and supervising MS and PhD students at the Agronomy Department
• Teaches AGR 601 Crop Ecology; AGR 636 Physiological Ecology, AGR 640 Seed Production of Field Crops, AGR 550 Cereals Crop Production, AGR 165 Fundamentals of Crop Production and STT 510 Seed Technology Functions.
• The direction of research is to understand the adaptation mechanisms of crops under environmental stress conditions. The present thrust of his work is to understand the crop and environment interaction, especially response of C3 and C4 plants (cereals, pulses and oilseeds crop) to salinity/ drought/flooding and deficient plant nutrients.

1. At the Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS) during 1993-1994-

• Before joining University Prof. Karim was working as an Agriculture Coordinator in an international NGO, RDRS, in the northern Bangladesh. In RDRS he was responsible for the dissemination of modern crop management technologies to the farmers. He paid special attention on the yield improvement of crops like wheat, rice, pulses, oilseeds and vegetables etc at the farmers’ field. He also organized farmers of north Bengal for group farming which was a new and improved concept of high production at the farmer’s field.
• At the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute during 1983-1989-
• Started career as a Scientific Officer in the Department of Agronomy, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI). Worked on the development of crop management practices. Developed packages of production practices of grain legumes, oilseeds and cereals.
• While working at the Regional Agricultural Research Station of BARI, Jamalpur Prof. Karim used to work in the Multilocation sites at the farmers field. The job was mostly field level research with the active participation of the local farmers.
• In abroad

1. At the Kyoto University, Japan –

• As a Visiting Professor during 2016-2017 Dr. Karim teaches Agriculture in Different Ecosystem at the postgraduate level. He also supervised students for conducting experiments on mitigation of salinity effect on soybean through application of mineral nutrition.
• During his post-doctoral course for three months in 2004 Prof. Karim clarified the mechanisms of high salt tolerance of blackgram over mungbean.
• During PhD work from 1990 – 1993 in Kyoto University Prof. Karim gained excellence on analysis of crop growth processes under stressful environment. He investigated the impact of the Tropical Environmental Stresses (High Temperature, Drought and Salinity) on Cereal Crop Plants. He identified one salt tolerant triticale (a cross between wheat and rye) line Currency and clarified the reasons for high salt tolerance of triticale over wheat and barley.

1. At the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS)-

• Worked as a Visiting Researcher at the JIRCAS during 1998-1999. Worked on the Impact of High Temperature on the Growth and Physiology of Mungbean. Prof. Karim clarified the reason for reduced growth and physiological processes of mungbean under high temperature and high irradiance stress conditions.
• At the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ)-
• Karim was invited to work as a Guest Scientist during 1994-1996 at the Institute of Plant Sciences of ETH, Switzerland. He worked there for two and half years on the growth response of maize under High Temperature conditions. He disclosed that high temperature tolerant maize genotype is tightly related with the high photosynthetic activity in the developing leaves.

1. At the Kagoshima University, Japan as a Visiting Professor-

• Karim was appointed as a Visiting Professor at the Kagoshima University, Japan in 2005. As a Professor of Kagoshima University, he taught Farming Systems in the South Asia at the graduate and undergraduate levels. He analyzed the similarities and dissimilarities of sugarcane cultivation practices between Bangladesh and Japanese South-western islands.  He also interacted with the Japanese farmers lived in the South- Western islands to analyze technology transfer dynamics from the research institutes to the farmers.

Experiences by structural positions

From July 2000 to date : Professor, Department of Agronomy, Bangabandhu Sheikh

            Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU), Bangladesh.

From May 1996 to 2000: Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy, BSMRAU,

            Bangladesh.

From June 1995 to May 1996: Assistant Professor, Department of Agronomy, Institute             of Postgraduate Studies in Agriculture (IPSA), Bangladesh.

From April 1993 to June 1994: Agriculture Coordinator, Rangpur Dinjpur Rural             Service (RDRS), an international NGO in Bangladesh Operated by World        Lutheran Federation, Geneva.

From Sept. 1983 to December 1990: Scientific Officer, Agronomy Division,

            Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute.

9. Administration:

• From May 2013 to 06 May 2015: Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU)
• From April 2011 to March 2013: Head, Dept of Agronomy, BSMRAU
• From August 2006 to May 2009: Treasurer, BSMRAU
• From May 1996 to April 1998: Head, Department of Agronomy, BSMRAU
• From May 2001 to April 2003: Director (Planning and Development), BSMRAU
• From May 2004 to April 2006: Head, Department of Agronomy, BSMRAU
• From 2000 to 2001: Member, Planning and Development Committee, BSMRAU
• From 2001 to 2005: Member, Steering Committee, Ministry of Science, Technology and Communication, GoB.
• From 2001 to 2009-date: Member, Professor and Associate Professor Selection Committee, Haji Md Danesh Science and Technology University.
• From 2005 to 2008: Member, Professor and Associate Professor Selection Committee, Patuakhali Science and Technology University.

10. Projects/ Program Handled:

• Improving Teaching-Learning Capacity of the Faculty of Agriculture of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project (HEQEP), RCP# 3075, 2014-2016
• Validation and up-scaling of lentil-mungbean pattern in the charlands of Kurigram funded by KGF- World Bank, 2012-2014
• Up-scaling mungbean – rice pattern in the charlands of Kurigram funded by KGF-World Bank, 2012-2014
• Action Plan on Improvement of Pulses- funded by GoB
• Salinity Tolerance of French Bean- funded by UGC
• Salinity tolerance of mungbean- funded by Ministry of STC
• Adaptability of soybean in the coastal saline soils of Bangladesh- (RMC, BSMRAU)
• Salinity Tolerance of Soybean- funded by RMC, BSMRAU

11. Technology Development-

• Developed BU soybean1, which is a dwarf and short duration soybean variety.
• Involved as a team member of the research group of BSMRAU that developed four varieties of mungbean (BUmug 1,2,3 and 4) and one rice variety (BUdhan1).
• Developed a model as lentil/wheat – mungbean – short duration aman rice for charlands of Kurigram
• Identified two salt tolerant mungbean lines (BM 01 and BM08), four salt tolerant soybean lines (AGS 313, G 00209, G 00028, G 00283) and five water stress genotypes of French Bean (BB24, BB43, BB45, BB41 and BB36).

Members of the professional societies

• Bangladesh Society of Agronomy
• Horticulture Society of Bangladesh
• Bangladesh Botanical Society
• Bangladesh Association for Advancement of Sciences
• Bangladesh Krishibid Institution
• Japan Association for the Tropical Agriculture
• Crop Science Society of Japan

Language Known:

     Bengali, English, Japanese and German.

Project handled:

1. 2014: Upscaling mungbean – rice pattern in the charlands of Kurigram, supported by CGP, KGF, World Bank
2. 2012-2014: Validation and Up-scaling of mungbean and lentil technologies in the rice based cropping system in Bangladesh, CGP, KGP, World Bank
3. Several S&T and UGC funded projects at different times.