Biotic Stress Resistance in Millets

Dr IK Das is a Principal Scientist in Plant Pathology at the ICAR- Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad, India. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural from Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswa Vidyalaya, West Bengal in 1991. He did his M. Sc in Mycology and Plant Pathology and Ph. D in Plant Pathology from the premier research institute, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi.

He started his career as Scientist in Agricultural Research Service in 1997, and served for 18 years in the Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad in various positions. He has made an outstanding contribution in the field of sorghum disease management using host resistance. Identified new resistant sources for major diseases of sorghum and contribute to development of superior cultivars. He developed biocontrol agents for management of soil-brone disease and seed quality improvement for panicle disease of sorghum. First time he reported anatomical markers for assessing charcoal rot resistance in sorghum. Basic studies on Macrophomina phaseolina first time indicated that chlorate sensitivity in M. phaseolina had relations with its pathogenicity. Handled projects with national and international funding and published around 50 research articles in reputed journals in India and abroad including, Microbiological Research, Crop Protection, Crop Science, Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology, Phytoparasitica, Current science, Food Control, Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, Journal of Agricultural Science (Cambridge), Euphytica, European Journal of Plant Science and Biotechnology, Indian Phytopathology, Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences. He has guided students for their post graduate and doctoral studies. He is also the Fellow of Indian Phytopathological Society (2015) and life member of many professional societies.

Dr PG Padmaja, Principal Scientist in Agricultural Entomology at the ICAR- Indian Institute of Millets Research (formerly Directorate of Sorghum Research), Hyderabad, India. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Sciences and completed her master’s in Agricultural Entomology from the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University, Tirupathi, India. She did her Ph.D. in Entomology from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), a premier institute of higher studies in agricultural sciences in New Delhi, India. She was awarded Rothamsted International Fellowship and did her post-doc in the Biological Chemistry, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK.

She joined ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research as a Scientist in 1998 and successfully handled several research projects. She is interested in finding new ways to protect millets from insect pests. Her research focuses on host plant resistance mechanisms, phenotyping for shoot fly resistance and bioassay of Bt transgenic sorghum against stemborer. Presently working on devising strategies for exploiting semiochemicals for pest management in millets at the field level. Her major area of interest is to unravel the host-insect interactions by identification of novel semio-chemicals, tritrophic interactions mediated by induced defense volatiles, stored grain pest management and develop an innovative approach for pest management in millets. She has been awarded with NUFFIC fellowship from Netherlands government for training on IPM and Food safety at Wageningen International Centre, The Netherlands. She has more than 40 scientific publications which include high impact journals such as Journal of Chemical Ecology, Crop Protection, Theoretical and Applied Genetics, Molecular Breeding, Plant Breeding, Euphytica, Phytoparasitica and Journal of Insect Science.

She has guided students for their post graduate and doctoral studies. She is also the Fellow of Plant Protection Association of India and life member of Society of Millets Research, Hyderabad, India.