Approaches for Potato Crop Improvement and Stress Management

Dr. S.M. Paul Khurana obtained M.Sc. (Plant Pathology) in 1965 and Ph. D. (Virus Pathology) in 1968 from DDU University of Gorakhpur. He did 2yrs post-doctoral work on Advanced Plant Virology at Kyushu University, Fukuoka (Japan) and later worked at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul (USA) on immunodiagnostics. Dr Khurana started his scientific career as Junior Scientist (Pathology) at Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore. He joined Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla as CSIR Pool Research Officer in 1973 and continued there in different capacities as the AICRP Coordinator and the Director there till November 2004, when he joined as the Vice-Chancellor of Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. Dr. Khurana is a Fellow of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, National Academy of Biological Sciences, Confederation of Hort Research Institutes, Distinguished Fellow of the Indian Potato Association. He also held several international assignments like Resource Person, Virology Planning Conference, CIP, Lima, Peru; Consultant of CIP-Helvetas, BNPP, Bhutan; Chairman, Plant Protection Session, Asian Potato Conference, Indonesia; Consultant for FAO/IPGRI Meeting, Edinburgh among many others. Under his leadership, ICAR-CPRI perfected different serological and nucleic acid-based virus detection techniques. As the Project Coordinator of AICRP, he recommended release of ten potato varieties. Besides, he was involved in selection of four new potato varieties namely Kufri Arun, Kufri Shailja, Kufri Pushkar and Kufri Surya. Dr. Khurana was awarded ICAR-CPRI Golden Jubilee Outstanding Achievements Award (2000); Best Scientist of the Year (2002) Award; Dr. S. Ramanujam Memorial Award for Outstanding research & Leadership in Potato R & D,ISCA-JC Bose Gold Medal, CHAI-LT Achievement Award etc . He guided one D Sc,16 Ph D and has published over 245 research papers in journals of repute, authored more than 140 reviews/book chapters and has to his credit 25 books. He was Chairman of the Res Advisory Committees of three Institutes and also Chaired three QRTs of the ICAR research Institutes.

Dr John E. Bradshaw spent his 34-year career (1975-2009) as a plant breeder and geneticist at what is now the James Hutton Institute in Dundee, Scotland; having studied genetics and applied genetics in England at the Universities of Cambridge (BA), Birmingham (MSc) and East Anglia (PhD). He worked on barley, brassicas (kale, swedes and turnips) and potatoes; doing research on the applications of genetics to plant breeding as well as breeding finished cultivars. In potatoes he was particularly interested in the theory and practice of quantitative trait locus analysis in tetraploid potatoes and breeding for quantitative resistance to diseases and pests (late blight and cyst nematodes). He has written extensively on plant breeding and genetics, including two books, one on Plant Breeding: Past, Present and Future (Springer Nature, 2016) and the other on Potato Breeding: Theory and Practice (Springer Nature, 2021). He has also co-edited books on Potato Genetics (1994) and Potato Biology and Biotechnology (2007) and edited one on Root and Tuber Crops (2010). He has been an Honorary Fellow of the Indian Potato Association since 2008. In 2010 he received the British Potato Industry Award in recognition of his contribution to potato research and knowledge transfer. Throughout his career he was a member of EUCARPIA, the European Association for Research on Plant Breeding, and having served as Chairperson of the Section Potatoes from 2000 to 2009 was made an honorary member in May 2012. He is a member of the Genetical Society of Great Britain and served on the Editorial Board of their journal Heredity as Plant Breeding Subject Editor from 2010 to 2017. He is a member of EAPR, the European Association for Potato Research, and served as Co-ordinating Editor of their journal Potato Research from December 2017 to December 2021.

Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj presently working as Director, ICAR-National Research Centre on Seed Spices, Ajmer (India), was involved in potato R&D since last 23 years. He has developed 19 potato varieties and registered 16 elite potato genetic stocks with ICAR-NBPGR. He has published more than 90 research papers in high NAAS rated journals and total publications of more than 200 covering wide subject areas. Dr. Bhardwaj has organized numerous National & International trainings as co-ordinator/ convener. He has handled more than 25 projects as Principal Investigator or Co-PI including the collaborative project ^2.0 crores) on GENOME EDITING funded by ICAR-NASF, extra-mural project (>40 Lakhs) on GENOME-WIDE MAPPING funded by SERB (DST), besides handling the ICAR-BMGF funded project for improving the genetic gain in Indian staple crops (Potato). He has been awarded Dr. S. Ramanujam Award (2012-15) for Outstanding Research and Leadership and Best worker award (2017) by ICAR-CPRI, Shimla. He is a Fellow of major professional societies like National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), Indian Society of Genetics & Plant Breeding (ISGPB), Indian Academy of Horticultural Sciences (IAHS), Indian Potato Association (IPA) and Indian Society of Vegetable Sciences (ISVS).