Plant-Microbial Interactions and Smart Agricultural Biotechnology

Dr. Swati Tyagi is working as Project Scientist at International Rice Research Institute -South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC), Varanasi, India. Her area of specialization is in plant -microbe interactions, plant genomics and elucidation of the mechanism at molecular level. Dr. Swati has published more than 10 research papers in the journals of national and international repute. She is graduated in Microbiology from Kurukshetra University (Haryana) in 2012 and PhD from the Division of Biotechnology, Jeonbuk National University, Republic of Korea. She also worked as Post-doctoral research fellow at Genomics division, National Institute of Agriculture Science, Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea. 　 Dr. Robin Kumar is presently working as Assistant professor at Acharya Narendra Dev University of Agriculture and Technology Ayodhya (U.P.). He did his undergraduate, Masters, and Ph.D. in Soil Science at Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut (U.P.), India. He was awarded as IRRI research fellow during Ph.D. studies. He worked as Research Associate at IIFSR, Meerut, India. His area of specialization is conservation agriculture and organic farming. Dr. Kumar has published more than 70 research papers in the journals of national and international repute. 　 Dr. Baljeet Singh Saharan’s area of research include PGPR, Bioremediation, Biofertilizers, Biosurfactants, bacteriocins Plant- Microbial interactions, Molecular Microbiology. He completed his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Microbiology from CCS Haryana Agricultural University Hisar (India). He has worked as Assistant Professor in Microbiology in the department of Microbiology, SBS, PGI, Dehradun, JCDV, Sirsa and Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra. He worked as Associate Professor in the Kurukshetra University. He joined as Sr. Scientist in the Department of Microbiology, CCS HAU Hisar in the month of March, 2019. At present he is working as Sr. Scientist and in-charge of Biofertilizer Production Centre, Department of Microbiology, CCS HAU, Hisar. He has guided 30 M.Sc. and 17 Ph.D. students as Supervisor. At present one M.Sc. student and five Ph.D. students are working under his supervision. Dr. Saharan got C.V. Raman award (INDO-US) for research in USA. He has been visiting Research Scholar at Washington State University, Pullman, WA USA. Dr. Baljeet has successfully completed three major research projects financed by University Grant Commission (UGC), Department of Science & Technology (DST) and Haryana State Council for Science and Technology (HSCST). Dr. Saharan is a recipient of DAAD (Indo-German) fellowship 2003-04 for doing post doctoral research in the Department of Bioremediation (now Department of Environmental Biotechnology), Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research –UFZ, Leipzig, Germany. He has been conferred Raman (Indo-US) fellowship for Post Doctoral studies in the Department of Plant Pathology, USDA, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA. He worked on Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria. Dr. Saharan has published more than 70 research papers in the journals of national and international repute. He has published two books through International publishers like Springer and CRC press. He has presented his research findings in more than 40 national/international conferences through funding provided by DST, DBT, HSCST, UGC, KUK etc. Recently he has been nominated as member of a national committee by Director General (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) for the revalidation of results of ZBNF (SPNF – Model) for natural farming. He has attended more than 50 conferences/workshops/refresher courses/colloquia/seminars etc. in India and abroad. 　 Dr. Ashok Kumar Nadda　is working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Jaypee University of Information Technology, Waknaghat, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India. He holds an extensive ‘Research and Teaching’ experience of more than 8 years in the field of microbial biotechnology, with research expertise focusing on various issues pertaining to ‘nano-biocatalysis, microbial enzymes, biomass, bioenergy’ and ‘climate change. Dr. Ashok is teaching, Enzymology and Enzyme technology, Microbiology, Environmental Biotechnology, Bioresources and Industrial products to the bachelor, master and Ph.D. students. He also trains the students for enzyme purification expression, gene cloning and immobilization onto nanomaterials experiments in his lab. He holds International work experiences in South Korea, India, Malaysia, and People’s Republic of China. He worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan China. He also worked as a Brain Pool researcher/ Assistant Professor at Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea. Dr. Ashok has a keen interest in microbial enzymes, biocatalysis, CO2　conversion, biomass degradation, biofuel synthesis, and bioremediation. His work has been published in various internationally reputed journals namely　Chemical Engineering Journal, Bioresource Technology, Scientific Reports, Energy, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, Science of Total Environment and Journal of Cleaner Production. Dr. Ashok has published more than 100 scientific contributions in the form of research, review, books, book chapters and others at several platforms in various journals of international repute. The research output includes 70 research articles, 25 book chapters and 10 books. He is the main series editor of "Microbial Biotechnology for environment, energy and health" that publishes the books under Taylor and Francis, CRC Press USA. He is also a member of the editorial board and reviewer committee of the various journals of international repute.　He has presented his research findings in more than 40 national/international conferences. He has attended more than 50 conferences/ workshops/colloquia/ seminars　etc. in India and abroad.　Dr. Ashok is also an active reviewer for many high-impact journals published by Elsevier, Springer Nature, ASC, RSC, and Nature Publishers. His research works have gained broad interest through his highly-cited research publications, book chapters, conference presentations, and invited lectures.

Plant Microbe Interaction for Sustainable Agriculture. Beneficial Microorganisms in Crop Growth, Soil Health, And Sustainable Environmental Management: Current Status and Future Perspectives. Environmental Control of Plant-Microbe Interaction. Vocabulary of Volatile Compounds (VCS) Mediating Plant Microbe Interactions. Role of Microorganisms in Mitigating Plant Biotic and Abiotic Stresses. Plant Microbial Interactions in Natural/Organic Cultivation of Horticultural Plants. Seed Defense Biopriming For Sustainable Crop Production and Disease. Management. Molecular Communications Between Plants and Microbes. CRISPR/Cas9 - An Efficient Tool for Improving Biotic Stress in Plants. Plant-Microbe Interaction and Recent Trends in Biotechnology for Secondary Metabolites Production In Medicinal Plants. Endophytes- An Overview and Their Bioactive Compounds. Nanomaterials Augmenting Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria: Potential Application in Sustained Agriculture. Siderophores And Their Applications in Heavy Metal Detoxification.