Brief Introduction

Born on October 1, 1954 in village Ratwara, Mohali, (parental village Majatri, Distt. Mohali), Punjab, Dr. Satbir Singh Gosal is an internationally acclaimed agricultural biotechnologist and recipient of prestigious Fellowships by The Royal Society London and The Rockefeller Foundation (USA) for his Post Doctoral research at the University of Nottingham, and John Innes Centre Norwich, England. Dr Gosal has served Punjab Agricultural University in various capacities such as Professor of Biotechnology, Head Department of Biotechnology, Founder Director School of Agricultural Biotechnology, Additional Director Research (Agri.), Director of Research and Member Board of Management. He has also served as Consultant, FAO/IAEA, Vienna, Austria and undertook expert mission to Iraq. Dr Gosal has rigorous training on ‘Biosafety of GM crops' from Dan Forth Centre for Plant Science Research, St. Louis; APHIS, EPA (USDA), USTDA, Washington DC, USA. He has been an active member of Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation (RCGM) for 3 years at DBT, Government of India, New Delhi. He is a member of panel of experts in area of Biotechnology for National Fund for Strategic Research of ICAR, New Delhi and Reviewer for the R&D Project Proposals of Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, New Delhi. He has been an honorary member, Board of Assessors, Australian Research Council, Canberra and President Punjab Academy of Sciences. He is an elected member (Fellow) of Plant Tissue Culture Association (INDIA), Fellow of Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Fellow of Punjab Academy of Sciences. Dr Gosal is a recipient of distinction award by Society for the Promotion of Plant Science Research, Jaipur. He is also a recipient of ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ from Punjab Academy of Sciences. He obtained and executed more than 20 externally funded Research Projects granted by various national and international organizations such as State Government, ICAR, DBT, DAC NATP, FAO/IAEA, and The Rockefeller Foundation, USA. He has participated and presented his research findings at 130 national/international conferences/meetings held in India, England, Scotland, Yugoslavia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, The Netherlands, Malaysia, Singapore, Austria, Iraq, China, Australia, Mexico, Germany and USA. He has an excellent published record with research papers in refereed journals- 207, Innovation publications- 3, Papers in conference proceedings-135, Abstracts- 300, T.V./Radio talks- 9, Popular articles- 20, Book chapters- 37, Research reports- 22, Laboratory manuals- 5, and Books- 11 (10 Published +1 in pipeline) of which 8 are from Springer, Switzerland. He is a prolific teacher and has guided more than 75 M.Sc. & Ph.D. students.

Brief Introduction

Dr. Ajmer Singh Dhatt is a distinguished expert in Vegetable Science, with an extensive career at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. A recipient of the university merit scholarship and an accomplished athlete, he began his professional journey at PAU as an Assistant Seed Production Specialist in 1992. He progressed to the position of Vegetable Breeder in 2001, Senior Vegetable Breeder in 2009, and later headed the Department of Vegetable Science in 2015. His leadership roles continued as Additional Director of Research (Horticulture and Food Science) in 2019 and Director of Research in 2023.

The remarkable work of Dr. Dhatt in vegetable breeding has resulted in the development and release of 28 new varieties and hybrids, with 11 gained national identification under All India Coordinated Research Project. His pioneer contributions include development of alloplasmic male sterile lines in onion and brinjal; virus-resistant and hull-less seeded varieties in pumpkin; parthenocarpic, bacterial wilt and nematode resistant lines in brinjal and a new salad crop variety ‘Punjab Tarwanga-1’. Additionally, he has created and standardized 32 production technologies and machines for vegetable cultivation, initiated potato breeding program, and established a memorandum of agreement (MoA) process to improve the visibility of university-developed varieties and hybrids.

As a Principal Investigator, Dr. Dhatt has led 20 research projects funded by prestigious institutions including ICAR, DBT, DST, CSIR, SRTT, and various state organizations. His prolific output includes 331 research, teaching, and extension articles in renowned international and national journals, bulletins, and magazines. As a mentor, Dr. Dhatt has guided 31 M.Sc. and Ph.D. students, many of whom have won distinguished awards such as the ICAR-Jawahar Lal Nehru Award, the IAHS-Dr. BR Barwale Award, the IAUA-Horticulture Science Award, and the ISVS-Dawarika Das Memorial Best Ph.D. Thesis Awards. Additionally, his students have secured highly competitive fellowships including the DST-Prime Minister Fellowship, ICAR-International Fellowship, and DST-INSPIRE Fellowship.

Dr. Dhatt’s expertise extends internationally, having served as a Visiting Research Scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA and visiting The Netherlands, Japan, Turkey, China and Israel. His remarkable vegetable breeding work has garnered numerous national accolades including the Dr. Kirti Singh Life Time Achievement Award, Dr. Biswajit Memorial Award, NHRDF Award, Dr. Kirti Singh Gold Medal, Dr. Harbhajan Singh Medal, and other honours. PAU has recognized his achievements with the Best Researcher Award, Sh. Hans Raj Pahwa Award, Smt. Harpal Kaur Memorial Awards and many appreciation certificates. He has also secured Best Centre Awards for PAU from AICRP (Vegetable Crops) and AINRP (Onion and Garlic) as Principal Investigator. Dr. Dhatt is also a Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Indian Academy of Horticultural Sciences, and the Indian Society of Vegetable Science.

Brief Introduction

Dr Bhullar has been In-charge of Weed Science Section and Principal Investigator (PI) of AICRP-Weed Management at PAU since 2012. He has worked on the development of integrated weed management approaches for field and horticultural crops, and cropping systems in conventional and conservation agriculture. His major contributions include introduction of direct seeded rice and tropicalised sugarbeet in the state, and management of herbicide resistance in Phalaris minor in wheat. In addition, based on his work, 44 recommendations on the development of production technologies for direct seeded rice and sugarbeet, management of herbicide resistance in Phalaris minor in wheat, integrated weed management in major field and horticultural crops, organic agriculture, agro-forestry and improved spray technologies have been passed on to the state package of practices. Besides, he has one patent (filed), 82 research articles, five review papers, five book chapters, four research bulletins and 53 extension articles to his credit. He has handled 24 national/international projects as PI/Co-PI. He has also received training in weed science from the University of California, Davis (USA) and Jealott’s Hill International Research Centre, Bracknell (UK). He has been teaching UG and PG courses in Agronomy and Weed Science, and has been Class In-charge of two batches of B.Sc Agriculture-4 year programme. He has guided 14 PG students as Major Advisor. Under his guidance as PI, PAU Ludhiana Centre was awarded “AICRP-Weed Management- Best Centre Award 2015-16.” He is also a recipient of “Appreciation Certificate” (by PAU) for outstanding research work on the development of weed management technologies for field and horticultural crops. The Indian Society of Weed Science also awarded him “Fellow” for year 2018 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to weed science.

Brief Introduction

Dr. Manav Indra Singh Gill joined PAU in 1992 and has 31 years of experience in teaching, research and extension activities on Horticultural crops at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. He has extensive Administrative experience and has served on various key positions at PAU namely Dean College of Horticulture & Forestry, Dean, College of Agriculture, Additional Director of Research (Horticulture & Food Science), Additional Director of Extension Education, Director PAMETI, Director Students Welfare, Registrar and Head, Department of Fruit Science. He remained Officer-in-Charge of the ‘All India Coordinated Research Project on Sub-Tropical Fruits’ for 10 years and was awarded ‘Scroll of Appreciation’ in 2011 for the teamwork done at PAU under the project.

Based on the research work done at PAU, Dr Gill has to his credit 30 research recommendations which are included in ‘Package of Practices of Fruit Crops’ of PAU. Besides, he has handled 10 adhoc research projects funded by International and national agencies. He has published research work in journals of National and International repute. Dr Gill has extensive teaching experience and has taught UG and PG courses in Horticulture and Plant Biotechnology. Besides, he has guided 12 M.Sc. and 6 Ph.D. students have thesis work on conventional and cutting edge science technologies. He remained Chairperson, Research Committee of the Department of Fruit Science for a period 10 years.

Dr Gill is recipient of ‘Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellowship’ and was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at University of Nottingham, U.K. for 1 year. Later, he was also a ‘Visiting Scientist’ and worked at State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre (SABC), Perth-West Australia for 5 months. Dr Gill has the distinction of being selected as Fellow of ‘The Horticultural Society of India’ in 2011. Recognizing significant contributions in field of horticulture, he was awarded ‘Hans Raj Pahwa Award’ by Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.

Brief Introduction

Dr Charanjit Singh Aulakh joined PAU in 1995 and was elevated to the position of Director, School of Organic Farming in 2017. He has 28 years’ extensive experience in teaching, research and extension. He taught different UG & PG courses and guided three Ph.D. and ten M.Sc. students as major advisor. He has to his credit seven books, two teaching manuals and 18 book chapters. He has been Secretary of Alumni Association, College of Agriculture; Coordinator of College Placement Cell and President of PAU-INSPIRE Club.

Dr Aulakh has handled several externally funded research projects in the field of organic farming, Good Agricultural Practices and Integrated Farming System. He has developed 50 production technologies on different crops/cropping systems, organic farming, INM, integrated farming system (IFS), vermicomposting, weed management, biofertilizers and zero tillage. He has published 71 research papers, two review papers, five conference papers and two invited papers. He has received three best research centre team awards, three best paper presentation awards and one best research paper award.

He organized 52 training programmes and three certificate courses; delivered 49 invited lectures, 249 training lectures and 46 TV and radio talks, and published 81 extension articles and six extension folders. He attended 132 international and national seminars/workshops including four in Philippines, The Netherlands, Mauritius, and Switzerland. As Director of the School, he was instrumental in getting two DBT and one DST funded projects; signed MOU with FiBL, Switzerland; established ‘PAU-Organic Farmers’ Club’ and PAU-Aromatic & Spice Growers’ Club, and developed ‘PAU SAFEFOOD Production Practices’ certification programme for certified safe food production. He has been expert member in different committees of ICAR, DST, CSIR and PHDCCI.

Brief Introduction

Dr. Manjeet Singh, a Dynamic Professional with more than 27 years of experience including 4 years administrative experience as Head of the department. Under R&D, total 30 machines/technologies designed and developed especially in the area of conservation/precision/sensor based agricultural machinery. Out of which, 22 machines/technologies recommended by the research evaluation committee of the university for commercialization and adoption of the farmers and 3 technologies were licensed to 126 manufacturers for their mass production. Total 18 numbers of externally funded research projects funded by World Bank, ICAR, SERB, DST, DoA&FW, Industries etc. including one mega project under NAIP were completed or in hand. Total 341 publications including 101 research papers in peer reviewed journals, 64 Books/Chapters/manuals/bulletins, 66 published in the proceedings of various national and international conferences/symposia etc. To protect the IPR issues, 5 innovative technologies have also been applied for granting of patent.

Decorated by many societies/organizations including National Societal Innovation Award- 2019 by NRDC, Team Award by Dr Gurdev Singh Khush Foundation for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences for the year 2019, Cash Award and Citation from Honorable Governor of Punjab in the year 2019. The Institution of Engineers (India), Kolkata nominated as Fellow of the AG Division in 2019. Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers (ISAE) conferred JYOTI AWARD in 2011 and Team Award in 2019.. Indian Society of Technical Education awarded for guiding best M.Tech Thesis in Agricultural Engineering in the year 2008. Award of honour during an “International Indo-US Workshop on Precision Agriculture Technologies & Techniques’ by PAU, Ludhiana and Colorado State University, USA in the year 2011. Received Senior Professional Engineer Award as an Alumni of College of Technology and Engineering, Udaipur in 2016.

In teaching, total 18 (14 UG + 4 PG) courses taught comprised of 170 number of credit hrs. During the service, total 30 numbers (18 UG+ 12 PG) of students guided and was members of advisory committee for 31 PG students. External examiner/evaluator/paper setter for 30 such assignments of various universities/institutes like IARI, HAU, IIT Kharagpur etc. Organized 16 number of National Trainings/Seminar/Summer/Winter Schools etc. Including 3 Winter/Summer Schools as Director sponsored by ICAR and 2 National Trainings sponsored by ICAR under NAIP.

Under transfer of technology, total 113 trainings organized including 43 co-ordinated for the various functionaries of the State Govt. Departments/farmers etc. Total 210 lectures including 84 invited lectures delivered during various extension activities/events/fairs in the state as well as at national level. Total 18 TV/Radio talks were either live-in-phone or recorded and telecasted/broadcasted by different channels. Total 93 demonstrations/exhibitions/display of agricultural machinery were conducted at kisan mela’s, extension workshops, field days etc. organized by State Govt; PAU, Ludhiana; Regional Research Stations; KVK’s etc.

Attended 24 international conferences including 12 in different countries like USA, Canada, Japan, Russia, South Korea, New Zealand, China etc with the theme mainly in the area of precision agriculture through travel grants received from DST, SERB, AICTE etc.

Brief Introduction

Dr Kiran Bains joined PAU as Assistant Scientist, Food and Nutrition on 1.12.1995. She was Head of the Department of Food and Nutrition from 1.2.2019 to 31.1.2023 and joined as Dean, College of Community Science, PAU on 6.11.2023. She has guided 25 M.Sc. and 10 Ph.D. students and handled 12 adhoc research projects. She has 243 publications out of which 104 are Research Papers in peer reviewed journals and 28 research papers have been published in high impact rating journals (7.35-17.21). She was a member of Broad Subject Matter Area Committee (BSMAC) for Community Science of ICAR to restructure postgraduate curriculum in Community Science from 2018-20. She worked at Centre of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (CIAB), Mohali as Sabbatical Faculty for one year (2015-16). She is Principal Investigator of Nestle India Limited funded ongoing scheme under first MoU of public-private partnership between PAU and Nestle India Limited in March 2009. This partnership completed 14 years, imparting nutrition education to 19,550 rural school girls from 77 villages of Moga, Ludhiana, Faridkot and Ferozepur districts with a total grant of Rs.1,03,83,000/- till date. As Principal Investigator, she achieved a competitive Research Project entitled, “A study of factors influencing zinc status of women (15-45 years) and children (6-59 months) from Ludhiana district of Punjab, India” in 2011 with a research grant of Rs.53,04,308/- from HarvestPlus, IFPRI, Washington DC. The study provided a baseline data for assessing the efficacy of biofortified high zinc varieties of HarvestPlus. She has been involved in testing of 7 crop varieties/ technologies in association with Agriculture and Horticulture scientists. She has been invited to present paper at 22nd International Congress of Nutrition (ICN) organized by the International Union of Nutritional Science at Tokyo, Japan in 2022. She was also invited to present work on protein quality of Indian diets at Seminar on ‘Protein for Human Health’ funded by FAO and Health Canada held at Auckland, New Zealand from March 27 to 30, 2011. She was nominated by Government of India as a member of the team to attend Indo-New Zealand Workshop on ‘Food and Agriculture’ at Lincoln University, Christchurch and Massey University, New Zealand from June 20-24, 2012. She represented India at Nestle Switzerland, SA sponsored International Workshop to exchange best practices in nutrition awareness programmes participated by representatives of 35 countries at London, UK on May 26-27, 2010. She achieved Research Fellowships at World Vegetable Centre, Taiwan in 2003 and Massey University, New Zealand in 2007. Her research on ‘Traditional and Culturally Competent Emergency Food Aid’ has been selected as one of the 31 innovative solutions that have succeeded in addressing complex problems around food security and nutrition through MEGP Initiative jointly led by National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) and United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP). She has received 10 best paper awards at national conferences. She has been nominated as a Member Executive Committee of Nutrition Society of India, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad (2022-24) and Convener, Nutrition Society of India (Ludhiana Chapter) from 2020 to 2023. She has contributed in the development of ‘Regional adaptation and update of food item based dietary guidelines’ of National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) with emphasis on cardio-vascular diseases.

Brief Introduction

Dr Kiran Bains joined PAU as Assistant Scientist, Food and Nutrition on 1.12.1995. She was Head of the Department of Food and Nutrition from 1.2.2019 to 31.1.2023 and joined as Dean, College of Community Science, PAU on 6.11.2023. She has guided 25 M.Sc. and 10 Ph.D. students and handled 12 adhoc research projects. She has 243 publications out of which 104 are Research Papers in peer reviewed journals and 28 research papers have been published in high impact rating journals (7.35-17.21). She was a member of Broad Subject Matter Area Committee (BSMAC) for Community Science of ICAR to restructure postgraduate curriculum in Community Science from 2018-20. She worked at Centre of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (CIAB), Mohali as Sabbatical Faculty for one year (2015-16). She is Principal Investigator of Nestle India Limited funded ongoing scheme under first MoU of public-private partnership between PAU and Nestle India Limited in March 2009. This partnership completed 14 years, imparting nutrition education to 19,550 rural school girls from 77 villages of Moga, Ludhiana, Faridkot and Ferozepur districts with a total grant of Rs.1,03,83,000/- till date. As Principal Investigator, she achieved a competitive Research Project entitled, “A study of factors influencing zinc status of women (15-45 years) and children (6-59 months) from Ludhiana district of Punjab, India” in 2011 with a research grant of Rs.53,04,308/- from HarvestPlus, IFPRI, Washington DC. The study provided a baseline data for assessing the efficacy of biofortified high zinc varieties of HarvestPlus. She has been involved in testing of 7 crop varieties/ technologies in association with Agriculture and Horticulture scientists. She has been invited to present paper at 22nd International Congress of Nutrition (ICN) organized by the International Union of Nutritional Science at Tokyo, Japan in 2022. She was also invited to present work on protein quality of Indian diets at Seminar on ‘Protein for Human Health’ funded by FAO and Health Canada held at Auckland, New Zealand from March 27 to 30, 2011. She was nominated by Government of India as a member of the team to attend Indo-New Zealand Workshop on ‘Food and Agriculture’ at Lincoln University, Christchurch and Massey University, New Zealand from June 20-24, 2012. She represented India at Nestle Switzerland, SA sponsored International Workshop to exchange best practices in nutrition awareness programmes participated by representatives of 35 countries at London, UK on May 26-27, 2010. She achieved Research Fellowships at World Vegetable Centre, Taiwan in 2003 and Massey University, New Zealand in 2007. Her research on ‘Traditional and Culturally Competent Emergency Food Aid’ has been selected as one of the 31 innovative solutions that have succeeded in addressing complex problems around food security and nutrition through MEGP Initiative jointly led by National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) and United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP). She has received 10 best paper awards at national conferences. She has been nominated as a Member Executive Committee of Nutrition Society of India, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad (2022-24) and Convener, Nutrition Society of India (Ludhiana Chapter) from 2020 to 2023. She has contributed in the development of ‘Regional adaptation and update of food item based dietary guidelines’ of National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) with emphasis on cardio-vascular diseases.

Brief Introduction

Dr Manav Indra Singh Gill joined PAU in 1992 and has 31 years of experience in teaching, research and extension activities on Horticultural crops at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. He has extensive Administrative experience and has served on various key positions at PAU namely Dean College of Horticulture & Forestry, Dean, College of Agriculture, Additional Director of Research (Horticulture & Food Science), Additional Director of Extension Education, Director PAMETI, Director Students Welfare, Registrar and Head, Department of Fruit Science. He remained Officer-in-Charge of the ‘All India Coordinated Research Project on Sub-Tropical Fruits’ for 10 years and was awarded ‘Scroll of Appreciation’ in 2011 for the teamwork done at PAU under the project.

Based on the research work done at PAU, Dr Gill has to his credit 30 research recommendations which are included in ‘Package of Practices of Fruit Crops’ of PAU. Besides, he has handled 10 adhoc research projects funded by International and national agencies. He has published research work in journals of National and International repute. Dr Gill has extensive teaching experience and has taught UG and PG courses in Horticulture and Plant Biotechnology. Besides, he has guided 12 M.Sc. and 6 Ph.D. students have thesis work on conventional and cutting edge science technologies. He remained Chairperson, Research Committee of the Department of Fruit Science for a period 10 years.

Dr Gill is recipient of ‘Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellowship’ and was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at University of Nottingham, U.K. for 1 year. Later, he was also a ‘Visiting Scientist’ and worked at State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre (SABC), Perth-West Australia for 5 months. Dr Gill has the distinction of being selected as Fellow of ‘The Horticultural Society of India’ in 2011. Recognizing significant contributions in field of horticulture, he was awarded ‘Hans Raj Pahwa Award’ by Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.

Brief Introduction

Dr Manmohanjit Singh joined PAU as Asstt. Professor (Soil Science) in Feb., 1996, elevated to Associate Professor in 2005 and to Professor in 2011. He worked in extension services of the university at KVK, Ferozepur, FASC Hoshiarpur, KVK Hoshiarpur and FASC Mohali. He worked as Director of Regional Research Station, Ballowal Saunkhri and Chief Scientist of AICRP on Dryland Agriculture and Nodal officer for GKMS project for 8 years.

He is recipient of JRF by ICAR and Dr N S Randhawa Gold medal in M.Sc. studies. He received Sumer Memorial Best Extension Scientist Award from Soil Conservation Society of India in Feb., 2015, appreciation certificate from PAU in March, 2018, best responsive centre award as team leader for AICRP for Dryland Agriculture for 2016-2018 and Best Outstation Scientist Award from PAU in 2019. He started 2-year Diploma in Agriculture at RRS, Ballowal Saunkhri. He initiated the idea of College of Agriculture at Ballowal Saunkhri, submitted proposal to the state government and state government sanctioned this project of about Rs. 50 crores out of which more than 20 crores have been received for infrastructure development.

He served as member Fellows Committee and Applied Research Award committee of Soil Science Society of America and chaired session in International Conference on Combating Land Degradation in Agricultural Areas (LANDCON1010) held in China during 2010. He was executive member of Soil Conservation Society of India and Indian Society of Dryland Agriculture. He has attended various international workshops / seminars in countries like USA, China, Australia, Italy, Bangladesh, Nepal etc. He successfully organized national and regional workshops and organized one international training with participants from Afghanistan at RRS, Ballowal Saunkhri.

He is associated with more than 15 international research journals as reviewer and is member editorial board of three journals. He has authored about 260 research and extension publications. He bagged 4 research projects as PI and 12 research projects as Co-PI which were sponsored by DST, New Delhi; Ministry of Water Resources, New Delhi; SRTT, Mumbai; TERI, New Delhi; MSSRF, Chennai; NMPB, Delhi and IPRO-GIZ Germany.

He guided four M.Sc. students and one Ph.D. student. He organized 14 regional level Kisan Melas, addressed more than 400 farmers training camps, field days, campaigns, surveys, about 300 farmers’ field demonstrations and provided advisory services to thousands of farmers through field visits etc. He has nine recommendations to his credit.

Brief Introduction

Dr Nirmal Jaura joined as the Director Students’ Welfare, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana on January 17, 2023. He is a popular and esteemed connoisseur of Punjabi literature, art, folklore and culture. He has made immense contribution towards the conservation of Punjab’s rich cultural and traditional heritage, both at the National and International fronts. Dr Jaura can be truly hailed as a linking tie between Punjab and the Punjabi diaspora, who inhabit various corners of the globe. Famously known as the “Glory of Punjab Heritage Programs”, he has been instrumental in organizing multiple cultural events to promote Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiyat by the medium of theatre, workshops, radio and television programs. His passion for preserving the rich and diverse Punjabi heritage has taken him to foreign lands such as Canada, America, England and Australia with the mission to. reconnect the contemporary generation with their ‘beginnings’ back home. He has spread the message of “From Routes to Roots” among the second and third generation of diasporic Punjabis, quenching their innate desire of ‘homecoming’.

Dr Nirmal Jaura joined the Punjab Agricultural University as Assistant Director in Communication Centre on March 2, 1993. Thereafter, he had a successful innings as Director Youth Welfare, Panjab University, Chandigarh, from May 2012 to May 2022. He holds the rare distinction of being at the helm of cultural programmes and Youth Festivals at the University, Inter-University, Zonal, Inter-Zonal, State, National and International levels. In view of his commendable achievements, the ‘Shaheed-E-Azam Bhagat Singh State Youth Award’ was conferred on him by the Government of Punjab in 1995.

Dr Nirmal Jaura graduated in Science from Government Barjindra College, Faridkot, following which he earned his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. He also holds the Master’s degree in Punjabi literature from Punjabi University, Patiala. He is a recipient of several National level achievements in academic and para-academic activities. As a student, he was declared the ‘Best Actor’, ‘Best Mono-actor’ and ‘Best Debater’ of PAU. His lustrous achievements established him as a talented artist through radio, television and stage programs in the early days of his student life. He was awarded the University Roll of Honor in the field of Theatre and Literature by PAU, Ludhiana.

Dr Nirmal Jaura is versatile and popular among people across all barriers of age, nationality and ethnic backgrounds. He has authored more than ten books on diverse themes of Punjabi theatre and culture, apart from current and global affairs. As Director Students’ Welfare, PAU, Ludhiana, he is committed to earn a place of international recognition in sports, cultural and literature arenas for the students under his charge.

Brief Introduction

Born on July 16, 1964, Dr Kapoor obtained his Doctorate and Masters from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana and graduation from Punjab University, Chandigarh. He joined the Department of Microbiology, PAU in 1992 as Assistant Professor and was promoted to post of Mycologist in 2000, Senior Mycologist in 2009 and Head of the Department of Microbiology on 29th July, 2017. He took over as Dean, College of Basic Sciences and Humanities on 28th August, 2019.

Dr. Kapoor has made significant contributions in research, teaching and extension activities. His salient research contributions include ten recommendations comprising of two new varieties – Milky mushroom (Mm-3) and Shiitake mushroom (Le-S) recommended for Punjab state and eight production technologies that have been included in Package and Practices for mushrooms. The prominent technologies include – compost formulations based on locally available agri-residues, casing soil combinations, production, processing and post-harvest technologies having direct relevance for commercial production of mushrooms. He has strengthened the on-going research work with an external funding of more than Rs.1 crore and has completed 11 research projects and is currently handling 5 projects. Dr Kapoor was also the Technical Expert Consultant for development of mushroom production package for Egerton University, Kenya. He has published 19 book chapters, 02 reviews and 83 research papers in journals of National and International repute.

Dr. Kapoor has been actively involved with teaching of under-graduate and post-graduate programmes of the College of Basic Sciences & Humanities. As Chairman Academic Affairs of the College and Coordinator, External Examinations (COBSH) he has significant contributions in the field of education improvement, curriculum planning/delivery and conduct of examinations of all UG courses. He has been Task Force member for Accreditation of PAU, NIRF rankings and ICAR rankings. He has guided 8 Ph.D. and 24 M.Sc. students in Microbiology and currently guiding 1 Ph.D. and 3 M.Sc. students. Dr Kapoor has been member of Expert selection committees of different universities.

Dr. Kapoor has also made significant contribution in the field of extension. He has organized training programmes for the benefit of Punjab farmers. He has delivered lectures-cum demonstrations as a resource person, 24 radio/ TV talks, contributed 41 popular articles and 3 bulletins besides starting the supply of “Ready-made spawned compost bags” to growers and urban/peri-urban families for promoting mushrooms in the state.

Brief Introduction

Dr. Rishi Indra Singh Gill obtained Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Forestry from the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana in 1990 and 1992, respectively. He started his career in 1993 as Assistant Professor Forestry at PAU. He was awarded ‘Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship’ in 1998 for doing a Doctoral degree from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Upon successful completion of Doctoral degree, he was promoted to Scientist (Agroforestry) in 2002 and joined as ‘Officer in charge’ (OIC) AICRP on Agroforestry project in 2003, and Principal Scientist (Agroforestry) in 2009.

Dr Gill has vast administrative experience in different capacities. He served as Head, Department of Forestry & Natural Resources for a full term of 4 years (2014-2018). He was Technical Advisor to Vice Chancellor for 8 years (2014-2022). He has also attended ‘Leadership for Academicians Programme’ (LeAP) funded by the Ministry of Human Resources Development, GOI which included training at the University of Hyderabad, India and at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. In addition, he has exposure to various international organizations/countries such as the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; University of Victoria, Canada; University of Melbourne, Australia; Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Canberra, Australia; Monash University, Australia; Kathmandu, Nepal; Singapore; Malaysia and Montpellier, France.

Dr. Gill has made significant contributions in research, teaching and extension activities of PAU. His salient research contributions include 19 recommendations comprising of 2 poplar clones, 4 eucalyptus clones, 2 Dek varieties and 11 production technologies that have been included in Package and Practices of forest trees. In addition, he has successfully completed seven research projects in the field of agroforestry, biomass production, tree improvement, tree borne oilseeds and sewage effluent management from various funding agencies like the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), NOVOD Board, Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA), ICFRE Dehradun, AusAID, etc. He has published 16 book chapters and several research papers in journals of national and international repute.

Dr. Gill has been actively involved with the teaching of UG and PG courses in forestry, biotechnology and environment. He has guided 14 M.Sc. Forestry, 2 M.Sc. Biotechnology students and developed 3 course manuals. Dr. Gill has also made a significant contribution to the field of extension. He has organized 12 national and 3 international training programmes on various aspects of agroforestry. He has delivered 70 lectures as a resource person, 35 radio/ TV talks, and contributed 18 popular articles and 7 bulletins.

In addition, Dr. Gill has been involved in extra-curricular activities such as In-charge NCC of the College of Agriculture and Agricultural Engineering and Technology (1997-98 and 2003-06, respectively), Treasurer Alumni Association (2010-11), Secretary / President PAU shooting committee, Chief Warden, Boys (2014-2021) and College Coordinator of University Counseling and Placement Guidance Cell.

Dr Gill’s contribution in research, teaching and extension over a span of two decades has earned him various recognition at local and national level.

Brief Introduction

Dr. (Mrs.) Yogita Sharma joined PAU in the year 2000 in Mohinder Singh Randhawa Library as Assistant Librarian. She has done her B. Lib & Inf. Sc. and M. Lib & Inf. Sc. from Panjab University, Chandigarh, with gold medal. She completed her PhD in the Digital Information Literacy from Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi. She has a total experience of 25 years serving in academic libraries. She has 27 publications including two books. She is PAU Nodal Officer for ICAR Consortium for e-Resources in Agriculture (CeRA). She is CCPI of ICAR E-granth project of agricultural libraries under NARES (National Agricultural Research and Education System) which includes strengthening of Krishikosh (digital repository of all the agricultural libraries under NARES) and implementation of KOHA. She has a teaching experience of 12 years. She actively participated in automation, digitization and implementation of RFID technology in the Library. She was instrumental in implementation and execution of anti-plagiarism measures in the University. She has attended and organized various training programmes/seminars/conferences.

Brief Introduction

He joined PAU in the year 1997 in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the college of Agricultural Engineering & Technology. Completed his Ph. D. In the field of solar thermal from Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee and did his M.E. (Mechanical) and B.E.( Mechanical) from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh. He has 18 years of teaching and research experience. He has 21 publications in journals and conferences. He is PI of UGC funded project titles design and development of efficient solar air heaters for agricultural applications and Co- PI of All Indian Co-ordinated Research Project on Renewable Energy Sources funded by Indian Council of Agricultural Research. He has 21 evaluated M.Tech theses till date. He is member of Indian Society of Heat and Mass Transfer, Indian Society of Technical Education, Solar Energy Society of India. He was associated with a teaching project titled development of e-courses for B.Tech (Agri Engineering) students funded by ICAR under NAIP.