Profiles of Chairman and Members of the ASRB
Dr. Sanjay Kumar obtained Master’s and Ph.D. degrees from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar and Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, respectively. Joined CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT), Palampur (HP) as Scientist and superannuated as the Director of the same institute; Currently Chairman, Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board, New Delhi. Also, held additional charge as Director of CSIR-IGIB, CSIR-CSIO and Head of CSIR-HRDG, intermittently. Received post-doctoral training at Texas Tech University (USA), Rothamsted Research (UK), and Kansas State University (USA).
Research: Major contributions include discovery of a novel carbon fixation pathway and its transplantation in a heterologous system to reduce photorespiratory losses leading to photosynthetic gain and yield enhancement (work lauded by international fraternity), discovery of autoclavable superoxide dismutase from high altitude plant, its characterisation and modification, plant adaption mechanism at high altitude, cloning of genes for secondary metabolite synthesis and imparting stress tolerance, deciphering the mechanisms of thorn formation in rose, winter dormancy and drought stress in tea, understanding plant microbe interactions. Contributed significantly on development of nutraceuticals using traditional knowledge, and genome and transcriptome sequencing of Himalayan plants and microbes to decipher adaptive mechanisms and secondary metabolites synthesis. Guided 29 MSc/PhD students, holds international patents & has 211 research/review articles, book chapters, edited book etc. Key contributions have percolated to book and major reviews also.
Recognitions: Fellow of INSA, NASI, NAAS and Crop Improvement Society of India. Bestowed with prestigious VASVIK Industrial Research Award; INSA Young Scientist Award; Certificate of Merit in CSIR Leadership Programme; R.D. Asana Endowment Lecture Award; Professor G.V. Joshi Memorial Lecture Award; Prof. Shri Ranjan Memorial Lecture Award, Ultra International Team Award for contribution in Essential Oil Industry; Outstanding Alumnus Award of College of Basic Sciences and Humanities by G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar; Dr. Subodh Kumar and Mamata Mukherjee Memorial Award by SFE. Chairman/member of several Professional Committees and Task Forces, and served Editorial Board of several international journals.
New initiatives: As Director of CSIR-IHBT, vitalised several initiatives for empowering society/farmers, which include successful procurement and introduction of asafoetida and monk fruit in the country, and introduction of saffron, apple, cinnamon, liquorice, lilium and tulip in non-traditional areas; technologies for waste management and Shiitake mushroom production. Promoted aromatics in mountain farming to make Himachal as the top state in country for production of essential oil of wild marigold. Coordinated multi-institutional projects of CSIR as Director of Agri, Nutri and Biotech Theme, as well as Nutraceuticals and Nutritionals Missions.
Entrepreneurship development: With emphasis on bioeconomy, the numbers of technologies and products surged to 85 during a much shorter period (2015-2023) and transferred several of them on priority for products availability in the market. These efforts lead to brisk increase in MoUs/agreements/MTAs signed by the institute with entrepreneurs (from 110 during 1984- 2014 to 995 during 2015-2023).
Entrepreneurship development: With emphasis on bioeconomy, the numbers of technologies and products surged to 85 during a much shorter period (2015-2023) and transferred several of them on priority for products availability in the market. These efforts lead to brisk increase in MoUs/agreements/MTAs signed by the institute with entrepreneurs (from 110 during 1984- 2014 to 995 during 2015-2023).
Catalysed inclusive development of the institute by mobilizing financial resources from varied agencies and linking with relevant state, national and international department(s)/ agency(ies)/ institute(s). With relentless approach for quality science and technology development, led CSIR-IHBT to attain top position in the state and 10thranking among 37 institutes of CSIR as per the SCImago rating.
Dr S.P. Kimothi who holds Masters M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Livestock Production Management from National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, joined Agricultural Research Service in March 1986 and possesses over 36 years of experience in research, teaching, extension and research management. Prior to becoming Member, ASRB, he worked as Assistant Director General (Coordination) in ICAR for nearly 8 years where he was involved in coordinating and implementing important flagship schemes of Government which include doubling farmers income initiative. He coordinated a wide range of activities like Regional Committee Meetings, Annual Conferences of ICAR-Director and Vice Chancellors, ICAR National Awards, Cabinet/ PMO related matters besides a series of other important activities. In these activities, he demonstrated the leadership and skill in research management & coordination with a broad vision and perspective of agricultural research and development, essentially required for the higher Research Management Positions. Extramural Funding Scheme of the Council implemented by him has helped in bridging many critical research and technology gaps in the country. He was the nodal officer of several flagship schemes of the Government at the Council level.
Dr Kimothi was the nodal point for the coordination and convergence with other Governmental and non-government departments, developing MoUs and work plans and provided coordination support for departmental meetings including the review meetings chaired by Hon'ble Ministers. Dr Kimothi was closely involved in the process of capacity building and incentivisation of the scientific & farming community through ICAR Awards and providing funding support to the societies and academic institutions for organising National/International seminars/ symposia, conferences besides publication of research journals. New ICAR awards for Organic Farming, and innovative small/marginal farmers were initiated by ICAR during his tenure as ADG (coordination). He has also contributed at the international level in his capacity as the member of the Governing Body of SAARC Agriculture Centre, Dhaka to promote regional cooperation and capacity building efforts at the regional level besides contributing towards, Indo-ASEAN, Indo New Zealand and Indo Saudi collaborations. He has also visited a number of Universities and Institutions of Higher learning in Europe to facilitate technical collaboration.
At the Institute level also, he contributed significantly in the Research, Education and Extension fronts. He headed the Livestock Research Centre of NDRI Deemed University, Karnal, which houses the largest Institutional Livestock Farm of the Country as its Scientist In-charge for 8 long years. Also worked as Head of the Livestock Production and Management Department and built a team of dedicated scientists and researchers. As a result of the initiatives taken by him, the Department of Livestock Production Management got recognized as the best Department in the Institute within 3 years of its establishment and conferred Best Division Award by Director General during the Convocation of the NDRI Deemed University in 2013. As Scientist In-charge, Livestock Research Centre and Livestock Production Management Department, he developed elite herds of Sahiwal cows and Karan Fries Crossbred cows and Murrah Buffaloes, initiated and strengthened Collaborative Research Programmes on the key areas of Livestock Production & Management. These include, development of indigenous censor networking to facilitate management decisions at dairy farms and tracking individual animals in collaboration with IIT Delhi, Application of bio-acoustics for the unique identification & detection of different physiological conditions of the buffaloes. Technologies were developed for micro-nutrients, immune modulator supplementation during most vulnerable stages in dairy animals for better health and sustained productivity.
He contributed to key multidisciplinary research initiatives in the frontier areas of research including buffalo cloning project which were strengthened to develop them into package of practices for wider application. NDRI, cloning research team of which he was a key member was awarded ICAR Interdisciplinary Team Research Award in 2014. During his leadership, Research on organic dairy farming was also initiated at NDRI, Karnal. Interdisciplinary researches were initiated on managing physical, environmental & nutritional stresses on dairy animals for sustainable high production in dairy animals and initiatives were taken to promote commercial dairy farming in the country by developing commercial dairy farming modules in different regions through consultancy. These achievements also contributed to the NDRI, Karnal being conferred ICAR Sardar Patel Award, 2014 during the ICAR Foundation Day by the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India.
He worked as research guide for 29 masters (14) and Ph.D. (15) scholars in the discipline of Livestock Production Management of which several were international scholars. Many of the students/research scholars guided by him are holding important positions in India and their respective countries abroad. He has published over 120 research papers in peer reviewed Journals, besides publishing 4 books, several, technical bulletins, policy papers, technical and popular articles.
Working as Core Team Member and leader animal science in the NATP funded, Institution Village Linkage Programme, of NDRI, Karnal for nearly 10 years provided him the opportunity to work closely with the farmers, understand the necessity for participatory problem-solving research besides providing feedback to the research system for further refining the technologies. The IVLP programme of NDRI Karnal, of which he was the co-leader, was adjudged the best among the 74 centres from all over the country and its final presentation/report was rated the best & awarded Best Presentation Award by NATP management in ICAR. He was also closely involved with initiating research on Rathi, Tharparkar and Kankrej breeds at Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Regional Station, Bikaner to enable conservation of these precious indigenous herds which are benefiting the farming community in the arid region.
Dr Major Singh (DOB June 20, 1960 ) Service - 36 years in Agricultural research and Management (Scientist – 13 years, Sr Scientist – 8 years, Principal Scientist/Professor – 15 years) Administrative experience- (Director – 5.3 years, Project Coordinator - 1.5 years, Head of Division - 5 years) Awards and recognitions: Fellow – National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi, National awards – (1) ICAR Team Award for outstanding contributions in the field of vegetable breeding, 2005 (2) Rajeev Gandhi National Award from Ministry of Home Affairs 2010, Awards from academic societies - Dr. Harbhajan Singh Award for outstanding research 2003, 2004 and 2015; Certificate of merit by Seed Research 2005; CHAI Appreciation award 2021, Recognitions from academic bodies - Vice-president, Indian Society of Alliums, Pune; Secretary, APIV, Varanasi; Chief Editor, Vegetable Science and Journal of Alliums. Mobilization of external funding: Leader/Principle Investigator in 13 externally funded projects which have inter disciplinary, inter-institutional and even international participation. Publications: Published more than 200 research articles in various National and International Journals out of which 100 research articles are in high impact journals. Guided 5 M.Sc. and 13 Ph. D students. Authored three books “Heterosis in crop plants”, Legume vegetables” and Biotechnology in crop improvement: concepts and manual. Published more than 16 Research/extension bulletins, 26 book chapters and 50 popular articles. Scientific Accomplishments: Developed two hybrids ‘Kashi Sandesh’ and ‘Kashi Komal’, two varieties ‘Kashi Taru’ and ‘Kashi Prakash’ In brinjal; three hybrid ‘Kashi Surkh’, ‘Kashi sinduri’, ‘Kashi gaurav’ and one variety ‘Kashi Anmole’ in Chilli; two varieties ‘Kashi Shakti’ and ‘Kashi Mukti’ in pea; one hybrid ‘Kashi Abhiman’ and one variety ‘Kashi Aman’ in tomato; one variety ‘Kashi Param’ in french bean. These varieties and hybrids were popularized among the farmers field through demonstrations. Developed Bt brinjal and Bt tomato using Cry 1Ac gene construct for resistant to shoot and fruit borer. Coordinated biosafety evaluation of Bt brinjal lines in the country. Developed transgenic lines in tomato using AtDREB1A and BcZAT12 gene constructs for water-deficit and multiple abiotic stress tolerance. Started marker assisted breeding in tomato and pyramided of genes Ty1, Ty2 and Ty3 to develop durable resistant varieties against TyLCV. Started research on climate resilience and developed two tomato lines and two onion lines for high temperature tolerance. In onion two lines were identified for drought and excess water tolerance. Apart from scientific achievements, extension activities were also undertaken for the direct benefit of the farmers. Under the tribal support project, Nandurbar district of Maharashtra was taken up for technology transfer and promotion of onion cultivation. Due to continuous efforts of 5 years, the area under onion has increased 4 times in the district and farmers have benefited a lot by getting good price. Kharif onion, which is confined to Maharashtra and Karnataka, was extended to non-traditional regions such as eastern Uttar Pradesh and north eastern region of India. During the last three years, more than 400 farmers have started production of Kharif onions in Mirzapur, with the help of the state government, the production of Kharif onions is being increased to 2000 hectares.
Dr. B.S. Dwivedi did his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry from CS Azad University of Agriculture & Technology, Kanpur. After joining Agricultural Research Service of the ICAR in 1986, he served at ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Shillong (now at Umiam), ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research (erstwhile PSCSR), Modipuram, and ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi in different capacities including Head, Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, ICAR-IARIduring 2011-2020. In his professional career of over 36 years, Dr. Dwivedi made significant research contributions mainly in the areas of assessment, restoration and management of soil health under different agro-ecologies. His areas of interest are: site-specific nutrient management, soil resource characterization and land use planning, and conservation agriculture. He published over 150 research papers in reputed journals, besides a number of review papers, bulletins, books and book chapters, and popular articles. Also, he was Chief Editor, Journal of the Indian Society of Soil Science during 2013-2020.As Faculty of PG School, ICAR-IARI for the period 2004-2020, Dr. Dwivedi taught and guided several Ph.D. and M.Sc. students in the discipline of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry. He worked closely with Government Departments, fertilizer industry, ICAR institutions, AUs, and international institutions.
Dr. Dwivedi possesses an illustrious academic record, with several awards and recognitions for his outstanding contributions. Important of them are: Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award of ICAR, Hari Krishna Shastri Memorial Award of IARI, S.S. Ranade Lifetime Achievement Award, ISSS-Platinum Jubilee Commemoration Award, ISSS-Dr. J.S.P. Yadav Memorial Award, FAI-Golden Jubilee Award, IPNI-FAI Award, and TSI-FAI Award.
Dr. Dwivedi is Fellow of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, National Academy of Biological Sciences, and Indian Society of Soil Science. .