Dr. Belaghihalli N Gnanesh is currently serving as Senior Scientist and Head at ICAR JSS Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Suttur, Mysuru, India. He previously held the position of Professor and Dean at the Sampoorna International Institute of Agricultural Science and Horticultural Technology under the University of Mysore. He earned his Ph.D. in Genetics and Plant Breeding from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad, and the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bangalore. With several years of research experience, Dr. Gnanesh has made significant contributions in the areas of germplasm resource management, crop genomics, and disease-resistance breeding. He is a recipient of the prestigious SERB Ramanujan Fellowship and was awarded a Visiting Fellowship by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada. During his tenure at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Winnipeg, he developed cost-effective, allele-specific diagnostic markers for oat crown rust resistance genes. Dr. Gnanesh’s current interests span plant genomics, genome survey, SNP discovery, and linkage mapping. He is also deeply involved in agricultural training and extension, focusing on field demonstrations, technology trials and precision farming that promote sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture.Prof. Megha N Parajulee has a BSc (Agri. Econ. Hons.) from Y. S. Paramar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, India, and an M.S. and PhD in Entomology and Quantitative Ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. Prof. Parajulee joined Texas A&M University in 1994 as a Cotton Entomologist and currently serves as Regents Fellow Professor and Cotton Entomology Program Leader. Prof. Parajulee is a leader in cotton entomology and cropping systems research, teaching, and service, with 135 refereed and over 400 non-refereed publications, 165 invited and 350 contributed presentations, and 35 M.S. /PhD students mentored during his 31-year tenure at Texas A&M University. Prof. Parajulee served as a Senior Fullbright Fellow to Nepal and Uzbekistan, USAID Advisor for agriculture curriculum development in Nepal, and has presented 45 invited plenary/keynote lectures in 16 countries in the areas of sustainable crop production and food security. Prof. Parajulee’s scientific contribution and impact have been recognized with several awards, including the Texas A&M Vice Chancellor's Award in Research Excellence, Vice Chancellor’s Award in Team Collaboration, AgriLife Faculty Fellow Award, Texas A&M Regents Fellow Award, Entomological Society of America IPM Excellence Award, US Department of Agriculture Southern Region IPM Hall of Fame Award, and US President’s National and Community Service Award.Prof. Chittaranjan Kole is an internationally reputed scientist with an illustrious professional career spanning over forty years and original contributions in the fields of plant genomics, biotechnology, and molecular breeding leading to the publication of more than 160 impactful research articles and reviews. He has edited over 200 books for the globally leading publishers. His scientific contributions and editing acumen have been appreciated by seven Nobel Laureates including Prof. Norman Borlaug, Arthur Kornberg, Werner Arber, Phillip Sharp, Günter Blobel, Lee Hartwell and Roger Kornberg. He has been honored with several Fellowships, Honorary Fellowships, and national and international awards including the Outstanding Crop Scientist award conferred by the International Crop Science Society. He was also awarded the Raja Ramanna Fellow by the Department of Energy, Government of India. He has served in all prestigious positions in academia including as Vice-Chancellor of Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Project Coordinator of Indo-Russian Center of Biotechnology in India, and Director of Research of Institute of Nutraceutical Research of Clemson University, in USA. He also served as a Visiting Professor at the Pennsylvania State University and Clemson University. He is also heading the International Climate-Resilient Crop Genomics Consortium, International consortium for Phytomedomics and Nutriomics and Genome India International as their Founder President.
