Plenary Speakers

Professor Nigel Halford is a Principal Research Scientist at Rothamsted Research, one of the UK’s premier agricultural research centres. Professor Halford obtained his first degree from the University of Liverpool in 1983, a Master’s degree from University College London in 1984 and his PhD from the CNAA while at Rothamsted in 1989. He is the author of more than 160 scientific papers, as well as books on ‘Genetically Modified Crops’, ‘Crop Biotechnology’, ‘An Introduction to Bioenergy’, and ‘Acrylamide in Food’. His research programme concerns the genetics of metabolic regulation in crop plants, how plant metabolism is affected by environmental stress and crop management, and how it can be manipulated to improve crop yield, quality, and food safety. A major strategic application of this work is reducing the potential for acrylamide formation in crop products. Professor Halford is a Visiting Professor at Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences and received The Magnolia Silver Award from the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government in 2012. He is also Honorary Treasurer of the Association of Applied Biologists, Special Professor at the University of Nottingham, a former member of the UK’s Advisory Committee for Animal Feedingstuffs (ACAF), and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.

Agriculturist, 2006-2022: Treatment and risk mitigation coordinator in the preclearance and offshore program (POP) at USDA's Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) APHIS.In March 2007, I synchronized the approval of the first irradiation facility and processes for exports of Indian Mangoes to the United States, the first use of irradiation as a phytosanitary treatment for fresh commodities for consumption. I also approved farms, orchards, sanitation protocols, and standard operating procedures in irradiation and export facilities in Vietnam, Thailand, South Africa, Mexico, Australia, Belgium, France, Holland, Turkey, and Israel. Inspection, approval, and registration of fruit orchards for exports to the U.S. and implementation of good agricultural practices, sanitation, and fruit fly trapping protocols. Capacity building in implementing good agricultural practices and managing day-to-day operations for agriculturists and farmers in India, Netherlands, Turkey, Israel, Mexico, Canada, Peru, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, South Africa, and many other countries. Biotechnologist: I prepared environmental impact statements and other documents as needed for the determination of deregulation and commercialization of the following transgenic crops:

• Delayed ripening tomato genetically engineered by Agritope Inc.
• Sulfonyl urea-tolerant cotton genetically engineered by Du Pont Company.
• Lepidopteran-resistant corn genetically engineered by Monsanto Company
• Delayed ripening tomato genetically engineered by DNA Plant Technology, Inc.
• Insect-resistant corn genetically engineered by Ciba Seeds Inc.

Work and Research Experience:
1996- 2006- USDA-APHIS: National Program Coordinator for Karnal Bunt, Pelargonium cuttings production offshore, Import of flower bulbs and fruit trees from Europe into the USA, Potato diseases, Black Stem Rust, chrysanthemum white rust, and Potato Cyst and Golden nematode programs.

Education/Publications/Memberships/Awards:
Agriculture: at Indian Agriculture Research Institute New Delhi; Genetics/Cell Biology: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA & Rockefeller Univ. New York

Vedpal Malik Google Scholar; Member of Indian National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Honorary fellow of Indian Society of Agricultural Biochemists. Registered in the list of Royal College of Veterinary surgeons to assist with Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak only in 2001.

Received “Secretary’s Group Honor Award for Excellence” for work on exports of Indian Mangoes into the US. Secretary Glickman Award for Management of Karnal bunt and other plant diseases in the USA. Vice-President Al Gore award for building a government that works. Administrators award for Excellence and diseases management in Agriculture.

Prof. P. Balaram is a distinguished biochemist and former director of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. His research interests are in bioorganic chemistry and molecular biophysics. He has made outstanding contributions in understanding the structure and function of transmembrane peptide channels, developing conformational models for peptide folding, and biophysical and chemical studies on membranes and model systems. He has published over 400 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has more than 22920 citations to his credit. He has significantly contributed in the area of popularization of science and scientific policy. He was Associate Editor of Indian Journal of Chemical Education (1977-82) and Editor of Current Science. Prof. Balaram is a recipient of several awards and honours, notable among them are Bruce Merrifield Award by the American Peptide Society (2021), Padma Bhushan (2014), Padma Shri (2002), The Jagadish Chandra Bose Medal, (2004), Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (1986), Alumni Award for Excellence in Research (1991), DAE-CV Raman Lecturer (1991), GD Birla Award (1994), TWAS Award (1994), Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Lecture (1995) and Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Visiting Fellowship (1996) of INSA etc. He is a Fellow of IAS, Bangalore; INSA and the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS).

Dr. Tilak Raj Sharma is the Deputy Director General (Crop Science, ICAR), and former Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI), and Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (CIAB) respectively, both autonomous institutes under the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). He is known for his studies in the fields of genomics and plant disease resistance. Dr. Sharma is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India, the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy. The DBT, Government of India awarded him the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to bioscience. He served as chief editor of the Journal of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology (JPBB), Springer Nature. He is the recipient of the prestigious Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award of ICAR. He is a prolific writer with about 15,387 citations and an h-index of 55.

Dr. A.K Singh is a renowned Indian rice breeder, currently serving as the Director of ICAR-IARI, New Delhi. Dr. Singh has been actively involved in Basmati rice improvement for the last two and half decades. He is associated with the development of 13 rice varieties including five MAS-derived Basmati varieties and created earnings of about 25,000 crores of foreign exchange annually. Dr. Singh has published 120 peer-reviewed research publications in rice genetics, molecular breeding, and grain quality. Dr. Singh pioneered the public-private partnership (PPP) model for the commercialization first super fine grain aromatic rice hybrid, Pusa RH 10, and several Basmati rice varieties.. Heis an outstanding research worker and outstanding teacher. He has been awarded the prestigious ICAR-Rafi Ahmad Kidwai Award and ICAR-Bharat Ratna Dr. C. Subramanian Award. He is a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, the National Academy of Sciences, India, and the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. He is a prolific writer with about 7567 citations and an h-index of 37.

Dr. Yunde Zhao is a professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California San Diego (UCSD). He is also the director of Plant Biology of Food & Fuel for the 21st Century, UCSD. Dr. Zhao is the current Editor-in-Chief of Plant Physiology.

Dr. Zhao is known for his contribution to solving the complete auxin biosynthetic pathway. He played a leading role in demonstrating that local auxin biosynthesis is essential for plant development. Dr. Zhao is also recognized for his inventions of several gene editing-related technologies including ribozyme-based guide RNA production and the Transgene-Killer CRISPR technology. His recent invention of RUBY greatly simplifies plant transformation and visualization of gene expression.

Dr. Zhao received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Michigan and his postdoctoral training in the field of plant molecular genetics at the Salk Institute. Dr. Zhao has been a Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher since 2019 and he has received several awards including ASPB Fellow, Fellow of Indian Society of Plant Physiology, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science professor fellowship, and Fellow of AAAS.