Home Institution India: ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute

Rajkumar Dhakar

Dr. Rajkumar Dhakar obtained his B.Sc. in agriculture from the College of Agriculture Dhule, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth Rahuri, Maharashtra in 2008. He obtained his master’s and Ph.D. degrees in 2010 and 2020, respectively, from the Division of Agricultural Physics, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. Currently, he is a faculty member at IARI. In his doctoral research, Dr. Dhakar focused on developing a novel spatial field scale wheat yield forecasting system through integration of satellite remote sensing derived leaf area index into agroecosystem model along with weather forecast. He has published about 30 research papers in journals of national and international repute. Currently, he is working on projects such as mapping tillage patterns in rice-wheat cropping systems using satellite data, crop yield forecasting, and precision nitrogen management in wheat using smartphone and satellite data.

Dr. Dhakar is a recipient of the ICAR JRF Fellowship (2008), IARI Merit Medal for M.Sc. (2011), CSIR-UGC JRF Fellowship (2010), DST-INSPIRE fellowship (2011), Best M.Sc. thesis award from the Association of Agrometeorologist (2011), IARI Merit Medal for Ph.D. (2021), Best PhD thesis award from the Association of Agrometeorologist (2021), Best Oral Presentation awards from ISRS (2016) and from the Association of Agrometeorologist (2014).

During his Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research fellowship, Dr. Dhakar is assessing general epidemiological models of airborne fungal infections for the prediction of diseases in apples; mapping and detecting diseases through small unmanned aerial system using artificial intelligence techniques; and evaluating economic feasibility of precision fungicide applicators over conventional ones.

Amalendu Ghosh

Dr. Amalendu Ghosh is currently working as a Scientist in Advanced Centre for Plant Virology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. He completed his postgraduate (2005-2007) and doctoral degree (2007-2010) in Agricultural Entomology from Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, West Bengal with several distinctions. He has been a faculty member at IARI, New Delhi for the past seven years. His main research interest lies in understanding the relationships of insect vectors and plant viruses and developing novel molecules aiming to interrupt the inter-relationships and restrict the spread of diseases. Dr. Ghosh has demonstrated the inhibition of virus transmission by thrips and whitefly using double-stranded RNA and antisense oligos.

Dr. Ghosh has been the recipient of Endeavour Research Fellowship (Australian Government), four Young Scientist Awards, and nine competitive research grants.

During his Fulbright-Nehru Research Fellowship, he aims to carry out targeted gene editing and determine the effects on development, reproduction, embryogenesis, and vector competence of thrips. With his expertise in insect science combined with plant virology, he aims to learn and conduct research with a multidisciplinary approach at the Department of Plant Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman. He wishes to apply the CRISPR/Cas9 system in Thrips palmi (Thysanoptera, Thripidae) to induce sterility thereby reducing the transmission of tospoviruses. This approach will help to develop an eco-friendly tactic that is adaptable to changing climate to manage thrips as a pest and restrict the spread of tospoviruses.

Tushar Kanti Dutta

Dr. Tushar Kanti Dutta is working as Senior Scientist at the Division of Nematology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. He obtained his undergraduate degree from Uttarbanga Krishi Viswavidyalaya (UBKVV), Cooch Behar, West Bengal. He obtained his master’s (2005-2007) and doctoral (2007-2010) degrees from IARI. During his doctoral program, he visited Rothamsted Research, UK for 10 months under the aegis of UKIERI fellowship funded by the British Council. He has been a regular faculty member at IARI since the last 12 years. His research interests include investigating the molecular basis of plant-nematode interaction using RNA interference and CRISPR-Cas9 strategies. Additionally, he has characterized a number of novel bacterial toxins from insect-parasitizing bacteria that symbiotically associate with nematodes.

He has been conferred with Associateship from the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) and has received the Jawaharlal Nehru Award (ICAR) in addition to several other young scientist awards from different academic societies.

During his Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence fellowship, Dr. Dutta aims to exploit a multiplex CRISPR-Cas9 toolkit, targeting multiple susceptibility or S genes, to confer root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) resistance in model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and tomato via loss of host compatibility. Knowledge gained about the function of S genes in nematode-infected plants can be translated into future research endeavors on other plant-pathogen interaction models.