Department of Plant Pathology- Govind Ballabh Pant University Of Agriculture and Technology

The Department of Plant Pathology was created and accredited by the ICAR in 1961. Dr. Y. L. Nene was the first Head of the Department. Under his capable leadership, the Department expanded to include many dedicated faculty members whose programmes made the Department the recognized leader in the country.

The next generation of faculty members, like the first, responded to the changing needs presented by modern agriculture. Current members of the Department includes 14 professors, one senior professor as guest faculty, one honourary professor from INRA, France, five Associate Professors and two Assistant Professors with 13 technical and 10 supporting staffs. The entire staff upholds the Department’s commitment to education, basic and applied research and extension.

Sl. No.	Name of Faculty members	Designation	Area of specialization
1.	Dr. J. Kumar	Professor & Head	Pathogen population biology, Molecular diagnostics, Biocontrol, IPM, Plant disease management on small farms
2.	Dr. R. P. Singh	Emeritus Scientist	Mushroom
3.	Dr. K.P. Singh	Guest Faculty	Wheat diseases
4.	Dr. A.P. Sinha	Professor	Rice diseases & fungicides
5.	Dr. H.S. Tripathi	Professor	Pulse diseases & virology
6.	Dr. R.P. Awasthi	Professor	Oilseed crop diseases
7.	Dr. K.S. Dubey	Professor	Soybean diseases
8.	Dr. (Mrs.) K. Vishunavat	Professor	Seed Pathology
9.	Dr. V.S. Pundhir	Professor	Epidemiology of plant diseases, Potato diseases
10.	Dr. Pradeep Kumar	Professor	Fruit diseases
11.	Dr. R. K. Sahu	Professor	Sugarcane diseases
12.	Dr. Vishwanath	Assoc. Professor	Oilseed Pathology
13.	Dr. Yogendra Singh	Assoc. Professor	Sorghum diseases
14.	Dr. K.P.S. Kushwaha	Assoc. Professor	Mushroom & pulse diseases
15.	Dr. Akhilesh Singh	Assoc. Professor	Maize diseases
16.	Dr. K.K. Mishra	Asstt. Professor	Mushroom
17.	Dr. (Mrs.) Deepshikha	J.R.O.	Wheat diseases

The Department has a well-knit under graduate (U.G.) and post graduate (P.G.) programme with updated and modern course curricula. It offers six U.G. and 20 P.G. courses. A broad range of carefully designed courses complimented by lectures in other Departments appropriately address the academic needs of the students. The great diversity of areas of expertise and interests present in the Department leads to diversity in thesis titles. So far 290 M.Sc. and 155 Ph.D. students have earned degrees from the Department.

The Department is actively engaged in the research work on both fundamental and applied aspects in the domains of ecology of soil borne plant pathogens, epidemiology and forecasting, biological control and IPM including small farms technologies, molecular diagnostics, pathogen population biology, seed pathology, fungicides, nematology, phytovirology, phytobacteriology and biology & technology of mushroom production. It maintains a strong interdepartmental network in research and instructions. The Department supports its research programme through competitive national and international funding. Eleven coordinated research programmes of the ICAR are being currently run by the faculty members.

Over the years, the trained and accomplished faculty members as well as students in addressing current issues in Plant Pathology have won over 40 national and international awards. Individual staff members with in the department have long been recognized for their leadership role in the science of Plant Pathology. Seven faculty members have served as president, four as vice president, three as zonal president of several professional societies.

The Department has the unique distinction of producing 30 books published not only by the Indian but also reputed international print-houses. To meet the growing demand, many editions of some of the books have been printed. Dr. R.S. Singh, Legendaries of this department and a pioneer in biological control of nematodes using organic amendments, has written 7 text books of which ‘Plant Disease’ considered as standard text book not only in India but several other countries, is running in to 8^th edition. A number of text books in Hindi for under graduate students have also been published. Further, several laboratory manuals, reference books, working sheets on diseases, bulletins, extension pamphlets, etc. have been prepared.

The Department possesses a modern infrastructure that includes 12 laboratories equipped with modern equipment, 6 glass houses and polyhouses and a library. It houses a mushroom research and training centre, a plant disease clinic (in house and mobile) and a referral lab identified by Central Insecticide Board, Govt. of India for quality testing of biopesticides. The Department maintains repositories of several plant pathogens and microbial agents for plant disease and health management.

In view of the outstanding quality of teaching, research and extension work being carried out in the Department, ICAR in 1995 upgraded the department to the status of the Centre of Advanced Studies in Plant Pathology (CAS). Major mandate of the CAS is to train scientific faculty from all over the country in important and innovative areas of Plant Pathology. So far 19 trainings, with 395 participants from 24 states, have been held. The CAS was awarded by the education division, ICAR on August 14, 1998 a certificate of appreciation in commemoration of Golden Jubilee year of independence (1998) for organizing the programmes for human resource development and developing excellent instructional material.

The Department runs a Plant Health Clinic to improve the quality of disease diagnosis and the quality of plant health care. With the support of CABI Bioscience Global Plant Clinic, training are offered on the authoritative identification of plant diseases and diagnostics of plant pathogens.

A strong emphasis has always been placed on the training of graduate students. Plant Pathology Society in the Department, run by a group of six students as office bearers under the guidance of a senior faculty member plans and conducts departmental recreational and educational activities, which include organizing guest lectures, interactive sessions and field visits and participation in exhibitions and extension programmes.

The Head, Department of Plant Pathology cum Director, Centre of Advanced Studies in Plant Pathology, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar- 263 145, Distt. U. S. Nagar, Uttarakhand INDIA.