Plant Biostimulants and Growth Regulators in Sustainable Agriculture

Author Biography

Deepak Kumar, PhD, is Executive Director (R&D) at Nextnode Bioscience Pvt. Ltd., Kadi, and Director (R&D) of the DSIR-recognized laboratory of Shri Ram Solvent Extractions Pvt. Ltd. He is the author or co-author of 20 peer-reviewed journal articles, five books, one patent, and 25 book chapters. He has been involved in the quality production of biofertilizers and biopesticides for the last 12 years. Dr. Kumar is a Certified Farm Advisor (organic farming, certified by MANAGE, GOI) and a Food Safety Mitra (certified by FSSAI, GOI). He also worked as a technical expert member (biofertilizer) to start the ICAR-IISR Agribusiness Incubation Centre (ABI), Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Additionally, Dr. Kumar was selected as an AYE mentor by IFCI Venture Capital Funds Limited (an Indian government undertaking) for SC/ST mentorship under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India (from February 2022 to date). In addition, Dr. Kumar is also working as guest faculty for the course ""PG Diploma in Biotechnology Law and Policy (PGDBLP)"" at Gujarat National Law University. He has received many prestigious awards from different scientific and market research organizations. He also completed and guided several indigenous and externally funded (DSIR and DST) research projects. Dr. Kumar recently developed and licensed a neem endophytic mycoflora-based mycofertilizer, namely AsperPhos, which showed potential in mineral solubilization. He is a technical consultant for more than a dozen companies, providing customized technical support, and is an active member of several associations. He obtained his MSc (Biotechnology) from C.C.S. University, Meerut; his MBA (Human Resource Management) from Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar; and his PhD (Ag Biotechnology) from Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture & Technology, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India. Sanjay K. Singh, PhD, is a Scientist and In-Charge of the Biodiversity and Paleobiology Group at the Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, Maharashtra, India. He has vast experience in fungal biology and plant pathology. He established a state-of-the-art National Facility for Culture Collection of Fungi, an exclusive repository for fungi as the National Fungal Culture Collection of India (ACRONYM-NFCCI), affiliated with the World Federation for Culture Collection, with financial support from DST, Govt. of India. More than 700 academic research institutions and about 100 industries spread across 28 states in India are beneficiaries of this facility. Dr. Singh received specialized training with world-renowned researcher Prof. Gary A. Strobel, Montana State University, USA, on the biology of endophytes and their bioactive metabolites. He attended International Advanced Training on Genetic Resources and Intellectual Property Rights (GRIP), sponsored by the Swedish International Development Authority at SLU, Sweden, and Johannesburg, South Africa. Dr. Singh has acted as a fellowship supervisor and served as a member of the Research Advisory Committee of the CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Chandigarh, and the ICAR-NBAIM, Mau, by the ICARI, New Delhi. Dr. Singh is an elected Fellow of the Maharashtra Academy of Sciences, the Indian Phytopathological Society, and an honorary fellow of the Society for Biotechnology (India). He was elected President, West Zone, of the Indian Phytopathological Society (IPS-2008-09), and Council Member of IPS and MSI. He is a recipient of the A.K. Sarbhoy Memorial Award of the Indian Phytopathological Society (ICAR), New Delhi, and the Dr. SK Shome Memorial Award of the Mycological Society of India (MSI). Dr. Singh has operated 14 projects; published over 115 research papers, three books, and 20 book chapters, and delivered more than 30 invited lectures at symposiums, seminars, and workshops. He has organized conferences and capacity-building workshops and served as a reviewer and editorial board member for prestigious journals. He obtained a postgraduate degree in botany from Kanpur University and a doctorate in botany (mycology) from Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur, UP. He received training in the fields of fungal biology, biodiversity, conventional and genomic identification, systematics, germplasm conservation, and secondary metabolite profiling and their applications in agriculture, medicine, and industry. Nutan Kaushik, PhD, is Director General of the Food and Agriculture Foundation, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. She is a professional with extensive experience of over 25 years in R&D and over 16 years in postgraduate teaching in the fields of biotechnology, plant protection, natural products, analytical chemistry, and agriculture policy. As head of the R&D research group, she has been involved in project development and management, laboratory management, and supervision and teaching of postgraduate and PhD students and researchers, training of other researchers, and publication and grant writing. Dr. Kaushik has directed cross-functional and research teams using interactive and motivational leadership and is acknowledged for coaching, guiding, and mentoring team members to achieve resource-wise productivity and optimization. She is the author or co-author of 65 peer-reviewed journal articles, one book, 20 patents, and 15 book chapters. Dr. Kaushik also served as a reviewer for many reputed journals, such as PLOS ONE, Industrial Crops & Products, Biomass and Bioenergy, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 3biotech, Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society, Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology, Plant Cell Reports, Biocontrol, and many more. She handled 44 international and national projects. Moreover, she supervised six PhD and 46 postgraduate students. She travels across the world (USA, France, Germany, Australia, Belgium, Bangladesh, China, Dubai, Israel, Norway, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, Vietnam and others) to present her research. Mahaveer P. Sharma, PhD, is a Principal Scientist (Agri. Microbiology) at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Soybean Research, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India, under DARE, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt. of India). Dr. Sharma started his career in mycorrhizal research at the University of Delhi and TERI New Delhi and later joined the Agriculture Research Services (ARS) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Dr. Sharma has a specialization in soil microbiological research involving the use of plant growth-promoting microbes, particularly arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and soybean rhizobia, to improve plant growth, soil carbon sequestration, drought tolerance, and the overall productivity of crops. He has been awarded many awards, including best paper and travel grant awards for attending scientific international meetings and conferences. He has been awarded several external research grants from DBT, DST, and ICAR, and has received the DBT-CREST Award-2013 by the Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, to work at USDA-ARS, USA, on signature fatty acid biomarkers. He is a fellow of the Mycological Society of India (2020), a recipient of the National Senior Scientist Award 2021 from the Microbiologists Society of India, and serves as an associate editor of journals of high impact. Dr. Sharma has setup an agri-business incubation facility at ICAR-IISR, Indore, for incubation and nurturing the agri-startups involved in the soybean and biofertilizer production sectors. He has about 130 important research articles published in refereed journals, magazines, and review articles in books of international repute, and there are many microbial accessions to the NCBI database and cultures deposited in International Microbial Repository Authorities to his credit. Dr. Sharma is a graduate in agriculture from Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner, and has a has a doctorate in microbiology. He has received a gold medal during his master’s program.