Sriram S
Principal Scientist & Head
Division of Crop Protection
Dr. S. Sriram is a renowned researcher in plant disease resistance and biological control, specializing in horticultural crops. His achievements include developing the Phytophthora blight-resistant Colocasia variety Muktakeshi and disease-resistant tomato hybrids (Arka Abhed, Arka Apeksha, and Arka Vishesh). He has also contributed to the development of 1 guava, 1 China aster, 5 marigold varieties, identified resistant lines in various crops, and pioneered a patented invert emulsion formulation of Trichoderma. His Trichoderma harzianum formulations, tolerant to salinity and carbendazim, have been commercialized, earning him the NRDC Innovation Award. Additionally, Dr. Sriram has guided several PhD and MSc students, received the Best Teacher Award at ICAR-IIHR, and currently serving as Discipline Coordinator for Plant Pathology for IARI-PG programme. As Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Horticultural Sciences, he successfully enabled the rise of NAAS rating from 3.47 to 6.1, showcasing his expertise and dedication to advancing agricultural research and education. He has over 140 research publications and 12 book chapters to his credit.
Before joining ICAR-IIHR in Dec 2012, he worked at ICAR-CTCRI (1997-2004) and ICAR-NBAIR (2004-2012) where he contributed to IDM in tuber crops and formulations of bioagents respectively.
- Best Research Paper Award from Indian Journal of Horticulture 2017 Savitha, M.J. and Sriram S. 2017. Induced systemic resistance (ISR) in hot pepper against Phytophthora capsici infection triggered by cell wall oligosaccharide elicitors from Trichoderma species. Indian Journal of Horticulture. 74( 2): 233-239
Plant varieties
Associated with the development of following Disease Resistant varieties
- Muktakeshi – Late blight / Phytophthora blight resistant taro /Colocasia
- Arka Abhed – Multiple disease resistant hybrid of tomato (late blight, early blight, bacterial wilt and leaf curl)
- Arka Apeksha and Arka Vishesh – two tomato processing varieties with resistance to three diseases along with good processing quality.
- Arka Sukomal – rust resistant pole bean variety
- Germplasm line IIHRG12 found resistant to Fusarium wilt in gladiolus
Associated with the development of fruit crop varieties
- Arka Poorna – Guava variety (CVRC notified)
Ornamental crop varieties suitable for garden display
a. Rose varieties suitable for garden display
- Arka Kinnari Rose selection IIHRP 2-28-1 for garden display. Bicolor flower consisting vermilion red shading towards orient pink
- Arka Sharmeeli Rose selection IIHRP 5-6- ever blooming, identified for garden display, Flower color changes from light pink to different shades of red from bud to different stages of blooming
- Arka Sinchana IIHRR 4-45-15, everblooming floribunda rose for garden display Flowers are bright red in color
b. Novel Varieties of China Aster
- Arka Aadya -Selection IHR CA H13A (Pink variety) Pink colored, early flowering, spreading growth habit; for bedding and loose flower.
- Arka Archana - Selection IHR CA J17 (white variety) White colored early flowering, spreading growth habit; for bedding and loose flower
c. Marigold varieties suitable for different states suitable for different ecological zones, released by CVRC notified vide gazette of GoI. Arka Bangara, Arka Bangara-2, Arka AgniArka Madhu, Arka Pari
Plant Protection Technologies
Commercialized
- Formulation of Trichoderma harzianum with Carbendazim resistance ThGJ16B
- Formulation of Trichoderma harzianum with Salinity tolerance ThHAR4B
- High temperature tolerant Trichogramma chilonis TcTN1
- Multiple insecticide tolerant Trichogramma chilonis TcMITS
- Pesticide tolerant Chrysoperla zastrowi sillemi Chrysoperla PTS8
Other Technologies
- Rhizobacteria for taro leaf blight and storage rot reduction
- Protocols developed for bioefficacy of fungal antagonists adopted by CIBRC
- Sm1 protein involved in ISR from T. virens was identified & gene cloned in Pichia pastoris
- Metabolites profile of T asperellum using metabolomics
- Established that Indian isolates of Trichoderma with finely warted conidia, capable of growing above 30° C with production of chlamydospores belong to T. asperellum.
- Formulations of non-pathogenic Fusarium for control of fusarial wilt
- Bacteriophages for bacterial wilt in solanaceous vegetables
- Endophyes Ochrobactrum and Chitophaga for pomegranate for wilt control
- Candida tropicalis, Alcaligenes & Bacillus for postharvest fruit rot of mango
- In vitro technique for screening the taro cultivars using cell wall glucan elicitors: Cell wall glucans from the fungal pathogens can induce the resistance in the respective hosts (Systemic Acquired Resistance). An in vitro technique to screen the taro cultivars using cell wall glucans as oligosaccharide elicitors from Phytophthora colocasiae can help in identifying taro blight resistant varieties
- Interventions to extend the shelf life of formulations of Trichoderma : Interventions viz., Addition of chitin in formulation, colloidal chitin in production medium, glycerol in production medium, heat shock at 35°C for 45 min can enhance the shelf life of Trichoderma formulations produced from liquid fermentation (As Inventor)
- Culturable yeasts and bacteria from guts of Trichogramma as part of artificial diet to enhance the fitness of egg parasitoid. : The yeasts from gut of egg parasitoids can be used in diet in mass multiplication of Trichogramma for their effect on fecundity and biological fitness
- Rootstocks of Citrullus accessions viz., RS-10, RS-11 and RS-18 with resistance to Fusarium wilt in watermelon: Fusarium wilt is a serious problem in watermelon & this soil borne pathogen can be managed with resistant rootstock. Besides imparting wilt resistance, grafting watermelon onto these rootstocks can potentially improve productivity without compromising the fruit quality traits
- Identification of watermelon genotypes resistant to Indian isolate causing Gummy stem blight : The watermelon genotypes viz. IIHR-617, IIHR-82, IIHR-545, BIL-53 and IIHR-556 were found to be resistant to gummy stem blight and shall be of great value in developing gummy stem blight resistant varieties of watermelon
- Identification of powdery mildew resistant rose line IIHRR-13-4 : IIHRR-13-4 of rose was identified as resistant to powdery mildew and this can be used in the rose breeding program. Molecular mechanism at transcriptome level confirmed the resistance in IIHRR-13-4
