Division of Crop Improvement

Division of Crop Improvement is one of the important divisions of ICAR- Indian Vegetable Research Institute, Varanasi. Research activities in the division are being undertaken mainly on germplasm collection, evaluation and maintenance of vegetable crops; breeding of vegetable varieties/hybrids for high yield, disease resistance and other premium traits and mapping and tagging of genes for useful traits. This division is actively engaged in research on 44 major and minor vegetable crops under two mega programmes. The division is fully equipped with the state of the art research laboratories and modern equipment for carrying out innovative research on vegetable crops.

Mega Programme-1: Integrated Gene Management

Genetic Improvement of Tomato
Genetic Improvement of Brinjal
Genetic Improvement of Chilli
Genetic Improvement of Pea
Genetic Improvement of Cowpea
Genetic Improvement of Indian bean and French bean.
Genetic Improvement of seed propagated gourds
Genetic Improvement of Luffah
Genetic Improvement of Pumpkins and Cucumber
Genetic Improvement of Melons
Genetic Improvement of Okra
Genetic Improvement of Cole crops and Root crops
Biotechnological interventions including Transgenics for managing stresses in vegetables
Genetic Improvement of under exploited & future vegetables
Genetic Improvement of clonally propagated & perennial vegetables

Mega Programme-2: Seed Enhancement in Vegetables

Priming, Coating, ovule conversion and seed enhancement.
Pollination studies for seed augmentation in vegetables including support of honey bees.
Drying and storage studies on vegetable seeds including modified atmosphere storage

Externally Funded Projects

Introgression of Begomovirus Resistance Genes in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) through MAS and Genomic Approaches,DBT
National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA),ICAR
CRP on Hybrid Technology Project,ICAR
Network Project on Transgenic Crops (NPTC), ICAR
CRP on Agrobiodiversity, ICAR
Central Sector Scheme for Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmer’s Rights Authority, PPVFRA
Agri Business Incubator (ABI), ICAR
Zonal Technology Management Unit (ZTMU), ICAR
Cowpea golden mosaic disease (CPGMD) resistance: Agroinfectious clone development, Screening, Genetics of inheritance, Molecular Tagging and Mapping for CPGMD resistance gene(s) in cowpea by using linked markers DST SERB
Monecious sex expression in muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.): Inheritance and molecular mapping of monoecisum using linked markers. DST SERB

New Updated List of Scientist's

Sl. No.	Name	Designation	Email
1	Dr. Nagendra Rai	Principal Scientist & Head Division of Crop Improvement	nrai1964@gmail.com
2	Dr. D. R. Bhardwaj	Principal Scientist	Dangar.Bhardwaj@icar.gov.in
3	Dhananjaya P. Singh	Principal Scientist	Dhananjaya.Singh@icar.gov.in
4	Dr. Achuit Kumar Singh	Principal Scientist	achuit.singh@icar.gov.in
5	Dr. Rakesh K Dubey	Principal Scientist	Rakesh.Dubey1@icar.gov.in
6	Dr Vikas Singh	Principal Scientist & I/c Head IIVR-Regional Research Station, Sargatia	Vikas.Singh@icar.gov.in
7	Dr. Binod Kumar Singh	Principal Scientist	bksinghkushinagar@yahoo.co.in
8	Dr. Jagesh Kumar Tiwari	Principal Scientist	jagesh.kumar@icar.gov.in
9	Dr. Shailesh K. Tiwari	Senior Scientist (Plant Breeding)	tiwarishailu@gmail.com
10	Dr. Pradip Karmakar	Senior Scientist	pradip9433@gmail.com
11	Dr. Suresh Reddy Yerasu	Senior Scientist	yerasusureshreddy@yahoo.co.in
12	Dr. Indivar Prasad	Senior Scientist	indivar234@gmail.com
13	Dr. Jyoti Devi	Senior Scientist	Jyoti.devi@icar.gov.in
14	Dr. Suhas Gorakh karkute	Scientist	S.Karkute@icar.gov.in
15	Dr. Nakul Gupta	Scientist	nakul.gupta@icar.gov.in
16	Keshav K Gautam	Scientist	keshav.gautam@icar.gov.in
17	Dr. Bhuvaneswari S	Scientist	bhuvaneswari@icar.gov.in
18	Dr. Vidya Sagar	Scientist	Vidya.Sagar1@icar.gov.in