Crop Improvement
Asia Program
Ashok Kumar is a Principal Scientist (Plant Breeding) at International Crops Research Institute for the Semiarid Tropics (ICRISAT), India heading the sorghum breeding research. With Ph D from Division of Genetics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, he has 19 years of research experience in the area of genetics, plant breeding for improved products development in various crops particularly sorghum and castor. Since 2006, his major focus is on developing innovative approaches that enhance breeding efficiency for higher genetic gain in sorghum for various end-uses- food, feed, fodder and fuel. Besides improving sorghum for food, feed and forage, he is currently leading the projects on genetic diversification of hybrid parents, biofortifying sorghum with higher grain Zn and Fe concentration and developing sorghums amenable for first (1G) and second generation (2G) bioenergy production. He was instrumental in release of first biofortified sorghum variety ‘Parbhani Shakti’ and worked extensively in seed systems development for increased adoption of cultivars. He has published 82 journal articles, 40 book chapters, 50 conference papers and co-authored six books. He has >40 international partnerships in various projects. He is currently guiding five Ph D students.
He is the Chairman, Institute Bio-safety Committee (IBSC), ICRISAT since 2014 and resource person for International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna for sorghum mutation breeding research project (CRP) development 2016 and its international Training Course AFRA 2017. He has extensive international collaborations with partners in more than 20 countries.
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5havJO8AAAAJ&hl=en
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ashok_Are
Publications
- Heterosis and Combining ability studies for improving grain Fe and Zn concentration and agronomic traits in Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]
on April 5, 2021 at 11:00 am
- Validation of shoot fly resistance introgression lines using SNP markers in sorghum
on April 5, 2021 at 5:17 am
- Doubling grain Fe and Zn concentration in sorghum to combat the micronutrient malnutrition in sorghum eating populations
on April 1, 2021 at 10:34 am
- Contributions of biodiversity to the sustainable intensification of food production – Thematic study for The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture
on July 31, 2019 at 10:28 am
- Composting of Sweet Sorghum Bagasse and its Impact on Plant Growth Promotion
on June 21, 2019 at 3:51 am