Kanad Das took charge as the 13th director of the Botanical Survey of India on September 25, 2025, in the presence of senior scientists, officers, and staff of the institute in Kolkata.
| Photo Credit: (Facebook/Botanical Survey of India)
The Botanical Survey of India (BSI) has a new director. Kanad Das is the first mycologist to head the premier research institute under the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
Dr. Das, who took charge as the 13th director of BSI, is an expert on the taxonomy of fungi. His scientific achievements include the discovery of two new genera and 165 new species of wild mushrooms in India.
“His pioneering research has been widely recognised, with 170 research papers published in renowned national and international journals such as Nature Portfolio (Scientific Reports), Fungal Diversity, Journal of Fungi, Mycosphere, and IMA Fungus, among others. His scholarly contributions are also reflected in eight authoritative books on wild mushrooms,” a press statement by the BSI said.
Dr. Das, who started his career at BSI as a research scholar in Dehradun, has over 25 years of experience and has also served as the head of Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden and Central National Herbarium.
Flora of India checklist
Speaking to The Hindu, he said that the immediate task before him will be to prepare a comprehensive checklist of the country’s lower groups of plants and fungi.
Dr. Das added that the BSI has nearly completed the Flora of India checklist, which refers to the higher group of plants.
The BSI director also added that the organisation will prioritise the digitisation of the national database of herbarium specimens so that common people can also have access.
Dr. Das succeeds A. A. Mao, who was an expert in plant tissue-culture and the taxonomy of rhododendrons. BSI was set up in 1890 and has 11 regional centers with four units headquartered in Kolkata.
Published – September 26, 2025 11:49 am IST
