Rahman Syed

After his doctoral studies, Syed was posted by the Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control to Sabah, Malaysia, where he gained a measure of notoriety for his work that led to the doing away of certain insecticides through the use of a virus to control palm leaf-eating nettle caterpillars. Leslie Davidson, then Chairman of Unilever oil palm plantations in Malaysia, hired Syed to investigate a hunch he had on the possibility of oil palm pollination being doable by insects rather than, as conventional wisdom had it, solely by wind or by hand. Syed's field and laboratory research in Cameroon yielded the conclusive discovery of the most efficient pollinator of the oil palm, the weevil species Elaeidobious kamerunicus. In 1979 he published his findings in the Bulletin of Entomological Research. The newly recognized African oil palm weevil, E. kamerunicus, was approved for importation and brought to the plantations of Malaysia in 1981. Its release was a great success, dramatically improving palm oil production, ending the costly and time-consuming practice of hand-pollination, and speeding plantation expansion, all with little to no negative biological impact.

Rahman Anwar Syed's first job, in 1962, was one teaching zoology at Gordon College, Rawalpindi, a post he held for six years. In 1968 he joined the Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control and became involved in entomological research. His initial work with the institute involved the biological control of fruit flies, an endeavor especially important to Pakistan's agricultural sector. At this time he completed his formal education, being awarded a PhD from the University of Punjab in Lahore.

Syed received his primary education at a local village school, sitting upon dirt mats outdoors in searing heat. It was after the harrowing 1947 Partition of India, when his family made the dangerous journey to the Pakistani city of Karachi, that Syed began to show his promise. There he gained admission to the renowned Dayaram Jethamal Science College, joining its University Officers Training Course and achieving success academically. Syed moved on to Lahore's prestigious Forman Christian College, where he developed a lasting interested in physical science and zoology.

Datuk Rahman Anwar Syed (14 December 1932 – 20 June 2009) was a Pakistani entomologist, professor, actor, and entrepreneur, best known for his discovery of the biological method of oil palm pollination.