About Us - South Asia Biotechnology Centre

About Us

About Us

The South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC) is a not-for-profit scientific organization that aims at serving as a knowledge hub and helps in bridging the knowledge gap between science and society about bio-innovation and its vitally important contribution to food, feed and fibre security, and growth prospects for the bioeconomy of India.

Objectives of SABC:

  • To share credible information on Bio Innovation and biotechnology with the society to improve public understanding.
  • To facilitate the transfer of Bio Innovation and biotechnological applications from the lab to the land.
  • To deploy cutting edge farm technologies such as drones and photovoltaic etc to improve productivity and farmers’ realization.
  • To help growers to adopt GAP & IPM based production systems to effective manage pests and diseases for world-class quality produce.
  • To promote and implement quality crop production protocols, food safety and food production system.
  • To educate, skill and train smallholder to adopt standards, hygiene and quality food production and,
  • Finally, to assist growers to improve realization by establishing robust food supply chain linkages.

SABC Scientific Team:

Dr D Kumar

Dr D Kumar is a Scientific Advisor of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Dr Kumar served as project coordinator of All India Network Project on Arid Legumes (AINP on Arid Legumes) and principal scientist (breeding) at the Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI), Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Dr Kumar has bred, released and notified moth bean varieties such as CAZRI Moth-1, CAZRI Moth-2 and CAZRI Moth-3 resistant to YMV, early maturity and erect upright growth habit, being grown popularly by farmers across India. Dr Kumar has published more than 90 research papers, popular articles and extensively involved in teaching, research and extension during and post retirement. Dr Kumar was awarded Ch. Devilal Outstanding AICRP Award-2008 for Arid Legumes Project, and many more awards and recognitions. Dr Kumar can be reached at: dkumar@sabc.asia

Dr. C.D. Mayee

Dr. Mayee is the President of the Board of Directors of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC), New Delhi and concurrently serving as Vice President of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), New Delhi. Dr Mayee obtained his agricultural degrees from Maharashtra and PhD specialized in plant pathology and epidemiology from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. He commenced his career in plant pathology research at IARI and worked in various capacities in Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI), Cuttack; Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana; Maharashtra Agricultural University (MAU) Parbhani for nearly 30 years. The research, teaching and extension experience led him to work as Vice Chancellor-MAU Parbhani; Director-Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR) Nagpur and Agriculture Commissioner, Government of India, New Delhi before retiring as the Chairman, Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India. Though specialized in Plant Pathology, Dr. Mayee committed himself for the growth of Indian Agriculture. In Plant Pathology, he guided 20 PhD and more than 38 MSc students, wrote books and monograph, published over 200 scientific publications in journals of repute and served the cause through development of the subject. During his scientific career, Dr. Mayee promoted the production technologies of cotton, groundnut, sunflower, coarse cereals and always remained active in sports, games, cultural activities, helping students in placement. Dr. CD Mayee can be reached at: charumayee@sabc.asia

Dr. P. Balasubramanian

Dr. P. Balasubramanian is the Scientific Director of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC), New Delhi. Dr, Bala served as professor at Agricultural College and Research Institute of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Vazhavachanur, Tamil Nadu. He was former Director of Centre for Plant Molecular Biology (CPMB) at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore. He is specialized in modern plant biotechnology and molecular plant pathology, He was trained at University of California, Davis, USA; John Innes Centre, UK and the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA. He is also serving as Editor-in-Chief of a plant molecular biology journal published from Tamil Nadu. He is a member of the Institutional Biosafety Committees of the several research organizations including Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, Bharathidasan University, Thiruchirapalli, PSG Institute of Technology and Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Quinquiennial Review Team on Spices Research and Tamil Nadu Biotechnology Board, Coimbatore. Dr. P Balasubramanian can be reached at: bala@sabc.asia

Dr. Govind Gujar

Dr. Govind Gujar is the Research Scientist at the South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC), New Delhi. Dr. Gujar earned his MSc and PhD in Entomology at Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi and later worked as an EU Marie Curie Post-doctoral fellow in UK and Germany during 1995-96. He has an experience of research, teaching and extension in the field of entomology for more than 37 years at IARI, New Delhi. He was the head of Division of Entomology for 9 years prior to his superannuation in 2015. As a DBT Visiting Research Professor, he was associated with the DST Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology, Guwahati in 2015-16. He worked on the development of insect protective transgenic cole crops in collaboration with US, Australian and other colleagues for a decade. He has an expertise on insect resistance management to Bt crops and insecticides. He has also studied insect plant relationships, insect pollination, insecticide and microbial pesticide use, and integrated pest management in cotton and cole crops. Currently, he is leading SABC projects particularly on sustainability of Bt transgenic crops and pest management tactics, pollinators and pollination and the environmental issues related to pesticide use. Dr Govind Gujar can be reached at: govind@sabc.asia

Dr. Neha Bulchandani

Dr Neha Bulchandani is a research scientist of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Dr Neha obtained her PhD (Biotechnology) from Jai Narain Vyas University (JNVU) Jodhpur Rajasthan and MSc (Biotechnology) from Banasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan. She has qualified CSIR NET and GATE examination. Dr Neha has five years of research and three years of teaching experience in plant science and equipped with expertise in carrying out routine biochemical, phytochemical and microbiological examinations. Dr Neha has mentored several projects involving graduates to carry out field visits concerning biodiversity analysis. Her research work involved the characterization and elicitor induced enhancement of plant secondary metabolites in the in vitro cultures of medicinally important plant species at Biotechnology Unit, Centre for Advanced Study, Department of Botany, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur. Experienced in carrying out plant tissue culture lab protocols, she has published six research papers in Scopus listed journals and presented in several National and International conferences, and recently secured Medal award for her research paper in plant biotechnology section presented in Conference held by Indian Botanical Society. Dr Neha can be reached at: neha@sabc.asia

Dr. Narava Ramana

Dr Narava Ramana is a research scientist (entomology) of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Dr Ramana obtained his PhD in agricultural entomology from Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU), Lam, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh and MSc in Entomology from Sher-e Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology-Jammu, J&K. He was awarded with ICAR- SRF fellowship and he cleared the ASRB-NET in 2018. He has been specialised in molecular entomological techniques with special emphasis on insecticide resistant gene characterisation, Phylogeography and insect biochemistry. He is having field, practical and laboratory experience at International crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru. Dr. Ramana has published six research papers, a laboratory manual, three book chapters and three popular articles. He is also life member of Entomological Society of America (ESA) and Applied Zoologist Research Association (AZRA). Dr Ramana can be reached at: ramana@sabc.asia

Bhagirath Choudhary

Bhagirath Choudhary is the Founder Director of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC), New Delhi. Bhagirath is a seasoned agriculture professional with more than 15 years of experience in technology management, technology transfer and innovation management in agriculture sector in India. He is also associated with the Department of Molecular Biotechnology of the School of Bioscience Engineering, Gent University, Belgium. Bhagirath is credited with four books and has published extensively in high impact scientific journals and contributed many articles in popular media. He is instrumental in transfer of QPM maize technology and Zero Erucic Mustard technology from the lab to the land. Bhagirath Choudhary can be reached at: bhagirath@sabc.asia

Deepak Jakhar

Deepak Jakhar is a Senior Research Fellow of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Deepak obtained his MSc in horticultural sciences and BSc in agriculture (Hons) from Lovely Professional University (LPU), Phagwara, Punjab. He has four years of field and research experience as young professional and senior research fellow (SRF) at Regional Research Station (RRS) of ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR), Sirsa, Haryana. His expertise is in cotton entomology and cotton insect pests, implementation of insecticide bioassays against whitefly, thrips, Jassid/leafhopper, pink bollworm and American bollworm under laboratory and open field conditions. He has been trained for rearing technique of pink bollworm and American bollworm on natural and semi synthetic diet for various experiments, data collection, organising and conducting farmer meeting, kisan mela and sensitization workshops for creating awareness for pink bollworm management. Deepak Jakhar can be reached at: deepak@sabc.asia

Yashika Kapoor

Ms Yashika Kapoor is a "Science Fellow" with expertise in creative scientific writing and science communication at South Asia Biotechnology Centre, New Delhi. Ms Yashika believes that biology is not only limited to the experts of the field but affects everyone. Thus, she has taken upon the mission of simplifying biology for common masses while sparking awareness and interest in the subject through her writing.

A gold medalist and graduate in life science she possesses an excellent capability to understand the different sub-domains of biology easily. Her writing acumen extends from writing interesting communication article to research documents of utmost sensitivity. Her past research experience granted her exposure to procedures of data collection, research design, and research writing.

Besides writing and biology, her other interests include cooking and exploring the world from pages of books from around the world.

Ms Yashika Kapoor can be reached at: yashika@sabc.asia

Dr Sandip Vishwanath Agale

Dr Sandip Agale is a research scientist of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Dr Sandip possesses sound technical knowledge of integrated pest management (IPM), good agricultural practices (GAP) and biological control of different cropping systems. Dr Sandip obtained PhD in agricultural entomology from Indira Gandhi Agriculture University, Raipur and the laboratory, field experience & practical exposure of working with diverse institutions including the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad, ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) and Central Citrus Research Institute (CCRI), Nagpur and DPPQs’ Central Integrated Pest Management Centre, Raipur.

Dr Sandip can be reached at: sandip@sabc.asia

Dr Naresh

Dr Naresh is the operation manager of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Dr Naresh has more than a decade of experience in human resource development, capacity building, institutional networking and project management. As an operation manager of South Asia Biotechnology Centre, Dr Naresh will coordinate, monitor and implement field operation, develop interface with key stakeholders and facilitate implementation of the activities of Jodhpur field office of South Asia Biotechnology Centre, Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

Dr Naresh can be reached at: naresh@sabc.asia

Dr. Annepu Appala Raju

Dr. Annepu Appala Raju is the Scientific Officer of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC), Jodhpur. Dr. Appala Raju hold his PG and Ph. D (Entomology) from Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) Lam, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. He has been specialised in cotton entomology with experience in laboratory biochemical studies of cotton sucking pests, resistance studies of pink bollworm to cry toxins and AW-IPM programs. Dr. Raju awarded as a Young Scientist Award 2020 from Dr. B. Vasanthraj David Foundation along with two other research awards for his significant contributions in entomology. He has published five research papers, two book chapters, three English and four Telugu popular articles. He is also life member of Entomological Society of India (ESI), National Academy of Biological Sciences (NABS), Applied Zoologist Research Association (AZRA), Plant Protection Association of India (PPAI), Trends in Biosciences and Advances in Life Sciences. Dr. Annepu Appala Raju can be reached at: appalaraju.annepu@sabc.asia

Ms Kavita Shivkiran

Ms Kavita Shivjiran is serving under the Mahila Kisan Biotech Fellowship of the mission program on Biotech-Krishi Innovation Science Application Network (Biotech-KISAN for Western Dry Region) of the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India at the DBT-SABC Biotech Kisan Hub for Western Dry Region implemented jointly by the South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC), Jodhpur and National Research Centre on Seed Spices (ICAR-NRCSS), Ajmer. Ms Kavita is a progressive woman farmer who has been part of the mega demonstration on GAP and IPM based production system of seed spices. Ms Kavita lives with her family at village Balaya of Mundwa tehsil of Nagaur district, Rajasthan. Ms Kavita can be reached at: info@sabc.asia

Ms Arti Patil

Ms Arti Patil is serving as an intern at the laboratory cum field office of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC), Jodhpur. Ms Arti is an agriculture graduate from the Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidhyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, Maharashtra. She also obtained Diploma in Agriculture Technology from Krishi Tantra Niketan, Kharpudi, Jalna, Maharashtra. As an intern, she will be given a platform to transcend from the academia to the science of innovation and its applications for sustainable agriculture and food production. Ms Arti can be reached at: artipatil@sabc.asia

Research & Outreach Partners:

  • Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU), Guntur, Andhra Pradesh
  • ANGRAU Regional Agricultural Research Station, Lam, Andhra Pradesh
  • ANGRAU Regional Agricultural Research Station, Maruteru, Andhra Pradesh
  • Department of Agriculture, Eluru & Guntur, Andhra Pradesh
  • Central Tibetan Administration (CTA)
  • Central Institute of Sub-Tropical Horticulture (CISH), Lucknow
  • CISH Regional Research Station (RRS), Malda, West Bengal
  • Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Malda, West Bengal
  • Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) of the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare (MOA&FW)
  • Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEF&CC)
  • Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs)
  • Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi
  • Ladakh Farmers & Producers Cooperative Ltd, Leh, Ladakh
  • Indian Society for Cotton Improvement (ISCI), Mumbai
  • Agrovision Foundation, Nagpur
  • Better Cotton Initiative & IDH Sustainable Trade Initiative
  • Bayer CropScience
  • University of Agriculture & Horticulture Sciences (UAHS), Shivamogga
  • Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Davangere
  • University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad
  • Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Haveri
  • Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore
  • Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth (PDKV), Akola
  • Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani
  • Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (IGKV), Raipur
  • Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kanker
  • Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology (MPUAT), Udaipur
  • Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Chittorgarh
  • Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV), Jabalpur
  • Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Chhindwara
  • Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University (SDAU), Dantiwada
  • Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Dantiwada
  • Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Aurangabad
  • FMC Corporation
  • Rasi Seeds (P) Ltd
  • Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University (RJCAU), Pusa, Samastipur
  • Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt of India
  • PI Foundation
  • Spices Board of India