Dr. Bhupender Kumar born on 27th December, 1981, had graduated from CSKHPKV Palampur, H.P, and P.G. & Ph.D. in Genetics from ICAR-IARI, New Delhi. Presently, he is working as a Scientist, Sr. scale in the Division of Crop improvement at ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research (IIMR), Ludhiana, Punjab. He is intensely working on basic and applied science of improving maize for high yielding.
As first developer, he had released ten single cross hybrids of maize through CVRC, of those, one was dedicated to nation by our Hon’ble Prime Minister as bio-fortified hybrid, protected six hybrids under PPV & FRA, and registered two germplasm lines. A total of six hybrids have been commercialized by signing 15 MoUs with different private seed companies. Among ten, 03 hybrids together have registered highest DAC breeder seeds demand (33.5 % share of the total indent) for ongoing year in the country. He has studied inheritance, developed RILs mapping populations, and identified resistant sources for various maize diseases, identified suitable selection indices for drought tolerant maize, standardized rapid method of screening maize for drought tolerance, and identified mega-environments for baby corn evaluation. He has also contributed in standardizing protocol for callus induction and regeneration using mature seeds derived nodal ex-plants, and establishing G × E × M interaction in conservation agriculture.
Dr. Kumar has published over 45 peer-reviewed research papers and review articles in NAAS rating of up to 12.55, 10 book chapters, 08 technical bulletins/Newsletter, 12 popular articles, and edited 11 annual reports and one book. He has received several awards including NAAS Associateship, DST early career research award, ICAR-IIMR Best scientist recognition, Dr. N. N. Singh young scientist award of MTAI, Young Scientist Award of SSDAT, and Appreciation certificates from ICAR-IIMR, Ludhiana. He had visited Mexico and Thailand countries and received DST travel grant for presenting his research findings at abroad.