Dr D. P. Abrol, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences, has served university in various capacities. He has served as Head of the Division of Entomology from August 2008 to February 2015 and Controller of Examinations during 2012. He has specialized in pest management, honeybee management and pollination biology. He has authored 18 books, 12 manuals and published over 250 original research papers in various national and international journals. He has completed several externally funded collaborative research projects with international organizations in Poland and Switzerland. Prof Abrol has visited South Korea, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and several other countries as a special invitee to these countries. In addition, he has received letters of appreciation from different organizations. Prof Abrol is a Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, India, and a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society London, UK. He is a recipient of the Young Scientist Award (1992) — conferred by the Jammu and Kashmir State Council for Science and Technology — a prestigious state award for his outstanding contributions in the field of agricultural sciences. He is also the recipient of Pran Vohra Award — 1993 — a prestigious Young Scientist Award conferred by the Indian Science Congress Association, Calcutta, for his outstanding and innovative research in the field of agricultural sciences. He was also conferred the Prof T. N. Ananthakrishnan Award 1997–1998 — a prestigious national award for his outstanding contributions in the field of entomology by the T. N. Ananthakrishnan Foundation, G.S. Gill Research Institute, Chennai. Prof Abrol won the Dr Rajendra Prasad Puruskar 1999–2000 award — a prestigious national award from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, for his Hindi book on beekeeping entitled ‘Madhmakhi Palan-Sidhant Evam Vidhian’. He received the 11th Apicultural Association Award (2010) for outstanding contributions in apiculture. King Saud University conferred on him a gold medal for development of apiculture in Asia.
The red dwarf honeybee (Apis florea) is the most common honey-producing bee species throughout tropical and subtropical Asia. This small bee is naturally distributed from India to the Malaysian peninsula. It is also present in several Middle Eastern countries, including Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. This honeybee is also commonly found in East Africa, but its populations are expanding westward. Abrol brought together 37 researchers to write this multidisciplinary treatise. Its 23 chapters include details on the biology, natural history, genetic diversity, distribution, foraging, nesting behavior, pollination behavior, and ecology of this species. The book highlights the manufacture of honey by these bees and their management from the viewpoints of tropical agricultural production and conservation of biodiversity. This work encourages utilization of a highly dependable pollinator that can help with food production in tropical and subtropical areas that are increasingly affected by climate change. It is an interesting technical book for entomologists, biologists, agronomists, horticulturists, and those particularly interested in bee-pollinated tropical crops. --J. M. Gonzalez, Austin Achieve Public Schools