Years active 1970–2004 Spouse(s) Uttara Devi | Name B. Rao Role Agriculturalist | |
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Born 1935 Chanchalguda, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India Children Anuradha Desai
Venkatesh Rao
Balaji Rao Awards Padma Shri
WPSA International Hall of Fame | ||
Banda Vasudev Rao was an Indian agriculturalist and poultry farmer, considered by many as the father of poultry farming in India. He was the founder chairman of the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) and was a 2004 inductee of the International Poultry Hall of Fame of the World Poultry Science Association. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri in 1990.
Biography
B. V. Rao was born in 1935, at Chanchalguda, in Hyderabad, in the undivided south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (presently in Telangana). After working in many capacities such as a telephone operator, Railway police staff and as a personal secretary to a state minister, he joined Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, to successfully complete a training programme in dairy and poultry farming where he had the opportunity to learn under an American teacher, Moore. His first business venture was with 500 birds entrusted by Moore for tending and, soon, Rao started his own venture in a 7 acre plot, for which the funds were raised by selling the jewelry of his wife. The business, started in 1970, grew over the years to the present V H Group, a US$1 billion conglomerate with interests in Poultry, Meat, Pharmaceuticals, Cattle feed and Sports and has presence in India, Bangladesh, United Kingdom, Singapore, Vietnam and Brazil. They hold a 99.9 percent stake in the EFL Championship team, Blackburn Rovers F.C., since 2010.
When the price of eggs went down in the early 1980s, Rao gathered farmers together and founded the National Egg Coordination Committee in 1982 and was its founder chairman. He was also associated with the World Poultry Science Association (WPSA) and headed its India chapter from 1993 to 1996. He was one of the key figures in the organization of the World Poultry Conference in New Delhi in 1996. He also founded a higher education institution, Dr B.V. Rao Institute of Poultry Management and Technology, which conducts higher courses in the subject. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 1990. The World Poultry Science Association inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 2004 but he died before the investiture ceremony could take place.
Rao was married to Uttara Devi, who is no more, and the couple had a daughter, Anuradha Desai, and two sons, Venkatesh Rao and Balaji Rao. Anuradha Desai succeeded her father and heads the Group as its chairperson.