Tenure: 13.12.2022 to 22.01.2024

Dr. Sanjay Kumar Singh is an alumnus and gold medalist from the reputed Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, having completed both his Master's and Doctoral degree programmes there. He did his Post-doctoral research on Tropical Fruits Biotechnology from the University of Florida, USA. Prior to joining ICAR-IIHR, he was the Head, Division of Fruits & Horticultural Technology at IARI, New Delhi.

Research Specialisation

Prof. Singh is specialised in crop improvement and genomics of mango and grape, tree physiology, and plant tissue culture of fruit crops.

Research Contributions

He developed improved varieties of grape — Pusa Aditi, Pusa Trishar, Pusa Swarnika and Pusa Purple Seedless — and mango varieties Pusa Deepshikha & Pusa Manohari. He was also involved in mass multiplication of grape genotypes through repetitive in-vitro double-node micro-cuttings, pomegranate and citrus bio-hardening using arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. He standardised techniques of in-ovulo embryo rescue and in-vitro mutagenesis in grape, citrus and mango, and developed leaf transcriptome sequencing for identifying genic-SSR markers in mango variety Amrapali. He has published over 200 research articles in reputed national and international journals.

Academic Mentorship

He is a recognised faculty of PG School, IARI, New Delhi, in the discipline of Fruit Science, having guided 17 Ph.D. and 7 M.Sc. students.

Awards & Recognition

• Hari Om Ashram Trust Award of ICAR (2005–06) in 2007
• Bharat Ratna Dr C. Subramanium Best Teacher Award of the ICAR, 2017
• Sh. G.L. Chadha Memorial Gold Medal-2009 of the Indian Academy of Horticultural Sciences (IAHS)
• Fellowship of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), New Delhi (2018)
• Best Teacher Award-2005 of IARI, New Delhi
• Associateships of DBT and NAAS, New Delhi
• Vice-President, Indian Academy of Horticultural Sciences (IAHS), New Delhi