• Comment: Please see: WP:NPOV, WP:SUMMARYSTYLE, and WP:PYRAMID. Kind regards, Spinster300 (talk) 17:24, 5 April 2025 (UTC).[reply]

• Comment: This needs to be re-written. qcne (talk) 13:09, 8 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Zaverbhai Harkhabhai Patel (December 9, 1903 – March 23, 1989) was an Indian agronomist and plant breeder, who developed wheat variety Lok-1. He spent 30 years of his retirement conducting wheat research at his own expense renting private farms.^[1][2][3]

He named his wheat variety "Lok-1" (meaning "common folks") .^{[3][4] [5]}

Articles about his research were published in several Gujarati publications. These were written by Gujarati writers like  Manubhai Pancholi, Mansukhbhai Salla, Kumarpal Desai, Praduman Khachar, Ramesh Tanna, Rajubhai Jantrania, Ratibhai Andharia, Rajnikumar Pandya,^[4][3] and wheat scientists M.V. Rao and B.S. Jadon.^[6][7]

Dr. Zaverbhai H. Patel
Born	December 9, 1903, Gariyadhar, Gujarat State, India
Died	March 23, 1989, Palitana, Gujarat State, India
Alma mater	1. University of Bombay (Mumbai) 2. University of Illinois Champaign Urbana
Known for	Inventor of high yielding popular wheat variety, Lok-1, which contributed to Green Revolution and changed the status of the country from food importer to food exporter
Spouse	Maniben Patel (January 21, 1910 - April 9, 1995)
Awards	1. Sanmanpatra (Document of profound respect), presented by Manubhai Pancholi of Lokbharati , March 11, 1978. 2. Eminent Wheat Scientist, Indian council of Agricultural Research
Scientific career
Fields	Agronomy, Plant Breeding, Genetics
Thesis	Cause of seed abortion in soybeans and other crop plants (1933)
Doctoral advisor	Dr. C. M. Woodworth

He was born on December 9, 1903, in Gariyadhar, Gujarat, India, into a modest farming family.^[3] His father, Harkhabhai Meghjibhai Patel, was a small farmer and mechanic, and his mother was Kuvarben Patel. He  was the eldest of five siblings. He completed his primary education in Gariyadhar.

India was under British rule until 1947 and Gariyadhar was one of the 91 villages ruled by revered Maharaja Bahadursinhji Gohil of Palitana State. Gariyadhar had one primary school up to 5th grade.

The Maharaja would have a monthly public meeting in Gariyadhar. At one of the meetings, 4th grader, Patel, was present and explained to the Maharaja about lack of High School in Gariyadhar. After making some inquiries the Maharaja offered him full scholarship for all his education.

Under the scholarship from the Maharaja, Patel earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of Bombay (now Mumbai) in Pune, followed by an Masters of Science in Chemistry from the same university in Bangalore (now Bengaluru). Patel also conducted research at the Indian Institute of Science, where he was awarded the Associate of the Indian Institute of Science (A.I.I.Sc) diploma.

After his Master of Science, the Maharaja offered him scholarship for study abroad. Patel decided to go to Germany to study soils science. So, he first went to Delhi for a short course in German, and then, in 1930, to the University of Berlin to study soil science and plant breeding. He worked at the laboratories of the Institute of Soils Science at Eberswalde, Germany.

in 1931, he went from Germany to the United States and enrolled at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. In 1933, he earned a PhD in Agronomy and Plant Breeding.

His doctoral research focused on the causes of seed abortion in soybeans and other crops, proposing a hypothesis about water and soluble substance withdrawal from seeds. His work showed that reducing seed abortion could increase soybean yield by 25%.

At the University of Illinois, he was a member of Gamma Sigma Delta, an honor society of Agricultural Science and he was duly elected associate of Sigma Xi.

During his studies he got special permission to work as a foreign student.

He completed a PhD in Agronomy-Plant Breeding in 1933 and returned to Palitana.

In 1925, while studying for his BSc he got married to Maniben (1910–1995), daughter of Laxmanbhai Nathubhai Lakhani, a high school principal. They were married for 64 years and had 5 sons and 4 daughters.

His father, Harkhabhai, died in 1929 while he was studying for his MSc in Bangalore.

His mother, Kuvarben, died in 1930 while he was studying in Germany.

When Patel finished PhD he returned to Palitana and wanted to work for the Maharaja. The Maharaja gave Patel a recommendation letter if Patel wishes to work elsewhere anytime for better remuneration^[8]. He started working for the Maharaja as a Revenue Commissioner. His tenure also included research on the inheritance of characteristics in Indian bajra and African millet crosses.^[9][10]

He remained in service of the Maharaja until India gained independence in 1947, after which the princely states were merged into the Indian Union.

Following independence, Patel joined the newly formed Saurashtra State as an Agricultural Research Officer, and later became Deputy Director of Agriculture for the Bombay State.^[1]

During his tenure, he developed Juvar S-28, a sorghum variety that performed well in national competitions. In 1949 he was transferred to Junagadh. He was instrumental in developing the 800-acre Sagdi Vidi Farm in Junagadh, which later became the campus of Junagadh Agricultural University.^[11][12]

In 1955, Saurashtra State merged into Bombay State. He was transferred to Ahmedabad in 1957 and continued as Deputy Director of Agriculture until his retirement in 1958.^[4]

He retired in 1958 and moved back to Palitana.

In 1958, he began his experiments renting private farms in Palitana, Bhutadia, Shihor, and Ankolali before moving his research to Lokbharati.^{[9] [10]}

Lokbharati was founded in 1952 by Nanabhai Bhatt (educationist) (1882 – 1961) and Manubhai Pancholi (1914 – 2001). Lokbharati is in the village of Sanosara, approximately 3,000 population and 16 miles from Palitana. Lokbharati was founded as a rural institute for imparting rural higher education for rural villagers with medium of instructions in Gujarati language.^[9]

Patel moved his research to Lokbharati in 1967. He used public bus to commute to Lokbharati. Students assisted in wheat experiments under the scholastic program.

In 1976, after 9 years of experiments his new wheat variety was ready for governmental testing. He named it Lok-1 (Lok= people, common folks).^[9]

Lok-1 wheat seeds were sent to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for trials. After successful trials Lok-1 was accepted by ICAR and made a part of their wheat database. Dr. M. V. Rao, head of the Wheat Improvement Project, ICAR visited Lokbharati and got familiar with Lok-1 experiments.^[6] Also Dr. M. S. Swaminathan Director General, ICAR got familiar with research of Lok-1.^[9]

Patel's house in Palitana served as his laboratory, where he stored and analyzed wheat samples. All mathematical work was done manually. All numbers were checked and rechecked by him.^[11][12]

Dr. Jadon^[7]writes, in 2011 paper , his experiences with the development and release of the wheat variety Lok-1^[7]

Lok-1 characteristics^[7][11]

Takes fewer days to mature (105 vs 110 to 115), thereby needing less watering.

Grains are large, attractive, uniform and do not shatter.

Leaves are narrow, green and permit proper light interception.

Spikes ripen simultaneously with uniform grain size.

Plants stay erect with strong stems and avoid lodging.

Plants do not lodge due to more water or fertilizer.

More synchronized tillers per unit area.

More tolerant to rust.

High protein content.

Maintain higher yield even with varied proportion of nitrogen and sowing time.

Patel's wheat experiments were in progress when his son Ashokbhai from USA visited him in 1970. Lok-1, after 10 years of trials, was getting good results. Ashokbhai arranged a meeting with senior agricultural scientists in New Delhi.

At that time Dr. Robert Glen Anderson PhD. (1924 – 1981)^[13] an eminent Canadian agricultural scientist was serving as head of the Rockefeller Foundation Wheat Program in New Delhi. This was a collaboration between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the Rockefeller Foundation, and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico. He played a major role in the green revolution.^[11] In March 1963, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Mexican government sent Borlaug and Dr Robert Glenn Anderson to India to continue his work. Anderson stayed as head of the Rockefeller Foundation Wheat Program in New Delhi until 1975.^[5]

When Zaverbhai came to the meeting, Dr. Anderson was present along with the senior scientist of ICAR and discussed the progress of his experiments.^[11][13]

Patel died at age 85, on March 23, 1989.

He suffered a heart attack in Lokbharati wheat farm, under the hot sun.

A few days after, he passed away on March 23, 1989, when his wife and all 9 children were at his bedside.

His wife Maniben (born January 19, 1910) died at age 85, on April 9, 1995, in Connecticut, USA.^[11]

Following his death, numerous articles and biographies were published about Patel’s life and work^[14]. Manubhai Pancholi and Mansukhbhai Salla^[15] wrote extensively about his contributions to agriculture. Gujarat State Education Board included an article about Zaverbhai Patel in their 12th Grade Text Book of Gujarati Language in 2004. ^[16] A short biography, entitled "Sanshodhan Gatha", was published in Gujarati by Balvantbhai Patel and Jayantibhai Mevada. This biography includes copies of certificates, letters and photographs.^[17] It was later translated into English as "Invention Saga" by Dr. Janakbhai B. Shah^[11] and into Hindi as "Anusandhan Gatha" by Dr. Rambir Singh Kanwar and Sugandha Kanwar.^[18]

• Editor, “The Dominance of Lok-1: Madhya Pradesh’s Leading Wheat Variety”, Krishak Jagat, an Indian Agriculture Newspaper, April 10, 2024.
• Anil Raval "Dr. Zaverbhai Patel", Gujarati Vishwakosh Trust, Ahmedabad, Gujarat State, India. December 9, 2023.
• Vivek Oza "Prime Minister Modi receives his portrait made out of the biggest wheat grains (Lok-1)". Sandesh, Ahmedabad, Gujarat State, India. September 29, 2022.

• Kakubha Rathod “Wheat variety Lok-1’s inventor Zaverbhai Patel”, Facebook, April 13, 2023.
• Ravji Gabani “Inventor of Lok-1 wheat, Dr. Zaverbhai Patel”, Sandesh, April 26, 2022.
• Tejas Vaidya “Zaverbhai Patel: Who spent 30 years of his life developing Lok-1 wheat”, BBC News Gujarati, January 16, 2022.
• Alpesh Tejani “Dr Zaverbhai H. Patel”, Facebook, August 28, 2021.
• Dr. Praduman Khachar "Ek Hirrani Parrakh Zaverbhai Patel". YouTube. Dr. Praduman Khachar. Junagadh, Gujarat State, India. August 6, 2020.

• Dr. Praduman Khachar "Thakor Saheb Bahadursinhji and Dr .Zaverbhai Patel". YouTube. Dr. Praduman Khachar. Junagadh, Gujarat State, India. January 8, 2020.

• Jayesh Dave “This Karmayogi gave a noble gift to society by his hard work using his house as his laboratory”, Gujarat Samachar Bhavnagar Edition, April 29, 2019.

• Dr. Sanjay Shreepad Bhave “True worshiper of land, agricultural scientist Zaverbhai Patel”, Nav Gujarat Samay, June 24, 2015.
• Dr. Janakbhai Shah and Bharatiben Shah “Inventor of ultrarevolutionary wheat Lok-1 Dr Zaverbhai H. Patel”, Jan Fariyad, November 2013.
• Dr. Janakbhai Shah and Bharatiben Shah “ A Documentary on Dr. Zaverbhai H. Patel’s Invention Saga”. YouTube. Dr. Janakbhai Shah and Bharatiben Shah. Ahmedabad, Gujarat State, India. October 13, 2013.

• Raman Vaghela “India’s hidden jewel in a rag – Agricultural Scientist and a Karmayogi Dr. Zaverbhai H. Patel”, Gandhinagar Samachar, September 9, 2012.
• Dr. Naresh Shukal “About Zaverbapa”, Gandhinagar Samachar, August 2012.
• Pravin Laheri “Creator of great revolution Dr. Zaverbhai Patel”, Patel Suvas, August 2012.
• Dr. Yogendra Vyas “Zaverbapa: It will be great if this agricultural revolutionary saint gets an award”, Global Gujarat News, July 16, 2012.
• Natwar Hedau “It can be simply said that Dr. Zaverbhai H. Patel was more of a savior of the farmers than increased wheat production”, Gandhinagar Samachar, April 16, 2012.