Conservation and Utilization of Horticultural Genetic Resources

Dr. P.E.Rajasekharan is a Principal Scientist at the ICAR Indian Institute of Horticultural Research Bangalore. Dr. Rajasekharan completed his PhD in in vitro conservation of threatened medicinal plants at the Department of Botany, Bangalore University and is known for his contributions to the area of Plant Genetic Resources, i.e. in vitro conservation and cryopreservation of horticultural crops. In addition, he has developed globally applicable cryopreservation protocols for the conservation of nuclear genetic diversity (NGD) in pollen of important vegetable, ornamental and endangered medicinal species. He currently teaches courses on Plant Genetic Resources and Intellectual Property Rights in Agriculture. Dr. Rajasekharan has more than 175 articles and two books to his credit. He is an expert reviewer for several international peer-reviewed journals, and sits on the editorial board of several others. He is a Fellow of the Indian Society of Plant Genetic Resources and Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy. Dr V. Ramanatha Rao holds a PhD in Genetics and Plant Breeding from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. Dr Rao has worked on various aspects of plant genetic resource conservation and the utilization of different crop and forestry species, initially at the global level and later more specifically focusing on plant genetic resources in Asia, the Pacific and Oceania. He started his work on genetic resources of groundnut at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT, 1976-1989) and established the largest groundnut genetic resources collection. He subsequently worked at the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources/International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IBPGR/IPGRI), presently Bioversity International, Rome (1989-2007). He was an Honorary Research Fellow with Bioversity International from 2008 to 2014. In the course of various programmes and projects, Dr Rao has enriched the global knowledge base on plant genetic diversity; conservation and use methods of tropical fruits, underutilized crops, forest genetic resources; ex situ and in situ (on-farm) conservation; use of plant genetic resources to improve the livelihoods of the rural poor; use of modern technologies for genetic diversity studies; enhancing the utilization of conserved germplasm; and human resource development projects. He has helped in either establishing or improving national plant genetic resources programmes in several countries throughout Asia. In addition to teaching and serving as an editor for a number of international peer-reviewed journals, he has over 300 publications, including several books, to his credit.