Wheat Science

Om Prakash Gupta is a Senior scientist (Plant Biochemistry) at ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, Karnal, Haryana, India. He obtained his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. He has been actively engaged in research and teaching in the field of wheat quality and molecular biology since 2008. His major research interests include small RNA's role during various biotic and abiotic stresses, molecular basis of Fe and Zn biofortification, nutritional and processing quality. Dr. Gupta has authored and coauthored in >80 research publications and serving as editorial board members of many peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Gupta is recipient of several academic awards including Jawaharlal Nehru Award for outstanding doctoral thesis by ICAR, and University Silver Medal, Aspee Gold Medal and Dr. Kirtikar Memorial Gold Medal, Chowdhary Charan Singh Memorial Award. He is fellow of the Society for Advancement of Wheat and Barley Research.

Sunil Kumar is currently serving as Principal Scientist (Biochemistry) at Quality and Basic Science Division at ICAR-IIWBR, Karnal. He obtained his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar in Biochemistry. He has served as Assistant Professor at MPUAT, Udaipur and as Assistant Scientist at CCSHAU, Hisar from 2005-2011 before joining ICAR as Senior Scientist and contributed towards teaching and research work. His areas of research interest are Plant biochemistry, antioxidative system and post-harvest biology. Throughout 16 years of service experience, he has worked/completed various institutional/externally funded research projects. He has also served as I/c PC KVK Fazilka. Dr. Sunil Kumar has 30 research papers (of international and national repute), one edited book and more than 50 other publications including technical bulletins, book chapters, conference abstracts, practical manuals and popular articles to his credit. Currently, he is actively involved in processing and nutritional quality of wheat using biochemical/molecular approaches, and wheat breeding program for high yield and wider adaptability in North Western Plains.

Anamika Pandey is currently working in the capacity of Assistant Professor at Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of Agriculture, Selcuk University, Turkey. She is also handling a 1001 national project funded by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) related to the determination of novel genes regulating boron toxicity tolerance in some of the Poaceae family species. She earned her PhD degree in biotechnology from India. Her current research focuses on identifying the novel genes and transcriptional factors in wild wheat species which are responsible for making them tolerant towards different biotic and abiotic stress conditions. With a research experience of 14 years in plant molecular biology, she has published several articles in SCI indexed journals and is in the editorial and reviewer board of different reputed journals such as PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, BMC Plant Biology etc.

Mohd. Kamran Khan is presently working as an Assistant Professor in Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of Agriculture, Selcuk University, Turkey. He obtained his PhD in Biotechnology from Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad, India. Dr. Khan has around fourteen years of research experience in the area of molecular biology and plant biotechnology. His research is evidenced by his publications in journals of international repute like AoB Plants, Frontiers in Plant Science, Plants, Plos One, 3 Biotech, Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution etc. He has more than 40 research publications with more than 250 citations including the chapters in edited books. He is on editorial and reviewer board of different reputed journals such as Plos One, Journal of Applied Genetics and Scientific Reports. The research interests of Dr. Khan include biochemical and molecular changes in crop plants especially wheat under different biotic and abiotic stress conditions. He is also interested in looking for the role of nanoparticles in regulating different abiotic stresses in plants.

Sanjay Kumar Singh, an ARS, is Principal Scientist (Plant Breeding) at ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat & Barley, Karnal, India. He was graduated with silver medal and post graduated with JS Aggarwal Memorial Gold medal from CSA University of Agriculture & Technology, Kanpur, UP and doctorate from BHU, Varanasi. He developed 24 wheat varieties for different agro-ecological conditions of the country and 49 genetic stocks for various traits in wheat. His area of expertise is wheat improvement for abiotic stresses and hybrid wheat. He successfully handled 35 research projects funded by CIMMYT-Mexico, DFID-UK, CSIRO-Australia, NFSM, DAC&FW, GoI, ICAR (CRP, AP Cess, NATP, Institute) & DIT, MoC&IT. He is also associated in coordination activities under AICRP-Wheat & Barley as Zonal Coordinator, Peninsular zone. He has accomplished assignment of Head, IIWBR-Regional Station, Dalang Maidan, Lahul Spiti, a national summer nursery facility. Dr Singh is Chair, Expert Working Group (EWG) on "Breeding Methods & Strategies" of the G-20 Wheat Initiative. He has more than 350 publications of national/international repute to his credit. He is recipient of several awards including ICAR-Lal Bahadur Shastri Young Scientist Award, 2007; UP-CST Young Scientist Award, 2008; VS Mathur Memorial Award, 2019 and S Nagarajan Memorial Award, 2020 and Fellow-ISGPB, ISPGR & SAWBAR. He has international exposure as Visiting Scientist to Mexico, USA, France, The Netherlands and Morocco. Dr Singh has very close linkages with KVKs, progressive farmers and seed growers and trained more than 1000 farmers/scientists to latest wheat technologies.

Gyanendra Pratap Singh has vast experience in wheat research for more than 25 years. He has developed 37 wheat varieties and 34 genetic stocks suited to different agro climatic zones of the country. Dr. Singh has published more than 160 research and review papers in reputed peer journals. He is recipient of several prestigious awards such as Rafi Ahmed Kidwai award and BP Pal Gold Medal. He is fellow of many scientific academies and societies such as National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Society of Advancement of Wheat Research, Society for Scientific Development in Agriculture and Technology. He has actively organised several workshops and symposia and chaired many scientific sessions. He is actively involved in mobilization of wheat technologies from lab to farmer's field.