Dr. Gyanendra Pratap Singh Appointed as Director of ICAR-NBPGR

On October 28, 2022, renowned wheat breeder Dr. Gyanendra Pratap Singh assumed the leadership of National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources as the new Director. Prior to this, he was leading the ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat & Barley Research, Karnal, since 2016.

Dr. GP Singh has worked for the ICAR for about thirty years and has a vast experience. With a focus on abiotic stress and physiological phenotyping with the aid of marker-assisted methodologies, he worked as a wheat breeder at IARI as a Senior Scientist (2001–2008) and Principal Scientist (2009–2016).

Many awards and honours have been given in recognition of his enormous contributions such as, Dr. Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award, 2015; BGRI Gene Stewardship Award, 2018; Dr Amrik Singh Cheema Memorial Award, 2019; Dr. Nanaji Deshmukh Team Award, 2018; Dr. AB Joshi Memorial Award, 2020; Agricultural Leadership Award by National Educational Empowerment and Development Foundation, 2019; Outlook Outstanding Scientist Award, 2020; Dr. B.P. Pal Gold Medal Award, 2016; V.S. Mathur Memorial Award 2014; Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding, New Delhi; AISA National Award for Outstanding Leadership in Agriculture, 2019; Best Scientist Award Young Farmers Association, 2019; Dr. G B Deodikar Memorial Oration Award, Agharkar Research Institute, Maharashtra Association of Cultivation of Science, 2020; Mahendra Samridhi Award, 2016 and 2020.

Dr. Singh is a fellow of the Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding, the Society for Scientific Development in Agriculture and Technology, the Society of Advancement of Wheat Research, and the NAAS (2015).

His leadership will be essential to improving the core functions of ICAR- NBPGR and creating new roles that will support the mitigation of the adverse effects of climate change on Indian agriculture.

More About Dr. Gyanendra Pratap Singh:

• Dr. Gyanendra Pratap Singh's main research areas include wheat improvement for abiotic stress, physiological phenotyping, MARS, and MAB. He has developed 27 wheat varieties and one potato variety. Varieties such as HD 2967 and HD 3086 cover a large portion of the country.

• He is one of the first researchers to implement the International Wheat Information System (IWIS) and the Breeding Management Series (BMS), a database that incorporates a set of modules that are used with accumulated data/breeders data in terms of molecular, phenotypic, and pedigree information, thereby improving the efficiency of the crossing programme, selection evaluation, and cultivar development.