Crop Improvement Strategies in Brassica species: Applied Science

Dr. Adesh Kumar is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Plant Pathology at Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India. He earned his Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut (Uttar Pradesh), India in 2012. His research interests include fungal pathology, biological control of phytopathogens, plant-microbe interactions, and microbial decomposition. Dr. Kumar has published more than 50 papers, 20+ book chapters, 6 books, and 20+ patents & copyrights. He has guided 50+ undergraduate, and 20+ postgraduate & doctoral students. A recipient of the Young Scientist Award, Excellence in Research Award, and Excellence in Innovation Award, Dr. Kumar is also an active member of several professional bodies, including the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA), the Indian Phytopathological Society (IPS), and the Agricultural Technology Development Society (ATDS). He has also served in leading roles at national and international conferences and symposia.

Dr. Bhupendra Koul is a professor in the Department of Biotechnology, School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University (LPU), Punjab, India. He did his PhD research at CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, UP, India and earned his PhD degree from Banasthali University, Rajasthan, India. He was awarded "CSIR-Senior Research Fellowship (SRF)" in the year 2013. His research interests are crop-improvement through plant tissue culture and plant transgenics. He has worked on the optimization, introduction, and expression of modified full-length and truncated versions of Bt-cry1Ab and 1Ac genes in tomato for developing non-chimeric and stable transgenic lines resistant to two lepidopteran insects (Helicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera litura), and evaluated the performance of both the versions of cry1Ab and 1Ac genes in transgenic plants. He has also optimized the regeneration and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) and has developed herbicide-resistant transgenic Stevia for effective weed-management in Stevia cultivation. His present researches aim towards biofortification of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) with omega-3 fatty acid (FAD3) content. He has 11 years of post-PhD teaching and research experience and has received the "Teacher Appreciation Award 2016" from LPU in the Discipline of Biotechnology and Biosciences. He has published 50 research papers in national and international journals as well as 21 book chapters and 3 authored and 4 edited books. He has guided 5 PhD students and has one international patent and 27 copyrights granted. He was also selected in list of top 2% scientists of the world as per Stanford/SCOPUS 2023 research database.