Bhimasen Naik (b.1961) hails from an agri-horticultural family of Western Odisha (Village: Jamtalia, Tehsil: Sundargarh, District: Sundargarh). He obtained B.Sc. (Ag. & A.H.) and M.Sc. (Ag.) in Genetics and Plant Breeding from Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur in 1981 and 1983, respectively, and Ph.D. from Utkal University, Bhubaneswar in1999. He has been awarded ICAR Junior Research Fellowship and CSIR Senior Research Fellowship during his studies. He is a Fellow of the Indian Society of Genetics & Plant Breeding, New Delhi; and life member of the Crop Improvement Society of India, Ludhiana; the Indian Society of Plant Breeders, Coimbatore; the Society for Advancement of Rice Research, Hyderabad; the Indian Society of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad and the Society for Plant Biochemistry & Biotechnology, New Delhi. He joined Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) as Research Assistant at Regional Research Station (later renamed Regional Research and Technology Transfer Station), Semiliguda, Koraput in 1984. Then he worked as Junior Breeder (Assistant Professor) at High Altitude Research Station, OUAT, Pottangi, Koraput (1984-1990); Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor (Senior Scale) at College of Agriculture, OUAT, Bhubaneswar (1990-1998); Training Associate (Horticulture)/Assistant Professor (Senior Scale) at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kendrapara (1998-1999); Junior Breeder/Assistant Professor (Senior Scale), Associate Professor and Professor at Regional Research and Technology Transfer Sub-Station (RRTTSS), OUAT, Jashipur, Mayurbhanj (1999- 2010); Professor at Regional Research and Technology Transfer Station (RRTTS), OUAT, Chiplima, Sambalpur (2010-2021); Associate Director of Research, RRTTS, OUAT, Chiplima, Sambalpur (2010-2014); and Associate Dean, College of Horticulture, OUAT, Chiplima, Sambalpur (2016-2017). He retired from OUAT service in January 2021. He has worked on breeding and genetics of ginger, turmeric, mungbean, linseed and rice. He has more than 36 years of teaching, research and extension experience at Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology. He has 56 research papers published in peer-reviewed national and international journals, 23 abstracts of symposia, 9 books, 1 book chapter (Springer-Nature) and 20 popular articles to his credit. He has guided one M.Sc. (Ag.) and one Ph.D. student. He is associated in the development of six cultivars in ginger (Suruchi), turmeric (Surama, Ranga and Rashmi), linseed (Arpita) and heat tolerant rice (OUAT Kalinga Rice-8: Suryashree); collaborated in the development of three cultivars in rice (Ashutosh, Gobinda and Hasanta) and registered one genetic stock of mungbean (BSN 1, INGR 00011). He is a reviewer of ‘The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences’ and ‘Indian Farming’ of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi.Ranjan Kumar Tarai (b.1977) obtained his B.Sc.(Ag.) in 1999 from College of Agriculture, Chiplima under Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology; M.Sc. (Hort.) in Fruits and Orchard Management and Ph.D. (Hort.) in Fruits and Orchard Management in 2002 and 2006 respectively from Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswa Vidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal. He successfully qualified NET in Fruit Science during 2004 conducted by ASRB, New Delhi. He started his career in 2006 as Subject Matter Specialist (Horticulture) at Krishi Vigyan Kendra (Gajapati) and later on joined as Junior Scientist (Horticulture) at Regional Research and Technology Transfer Station, Bhawanipatna and as Programme Coordinator at KVK, Kalahandi under Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar. Dr. Tarai is basically a Pomologist inclined to fruit research and teaching. He has an experience of over 17 years of teaching, research and extension. He has published more than 55 research papers in national and international journals, 9 books, 26 popular articles, 19 book chapters, 22 extension booklets, Newsletters and practical manuals to his credit. He has guided five M.Sc. Ag. (Hort.) students.Presently, he is guiding one PhD and one M.Sc. student. He is a life member of several societies in the field of Horticulture. He has devoted his works in development and transfer of technologies in fruits (especially minor fruit crops), vegetables and horticulture-based farming system suitable for resource poor area. Also, he has been selected as External Examiner for Final Viva-Voice of M.Sc. (Ag) (Horticulture) students in different SAUs like BCKV, UBKV, IGKV, BAU, NEHU, RPCAU and question setter for different SAUs and CAU like Visva-Bharati. He has also delivered many radio and television talks. He has been selected as CCPI of different externally funded projects like LRI-REWARD, OMBADC and RKVY. He is involved in one year certificate course programme for rural youth as Nodal Officer under CBSAE development project funded by OMBADC and also selected as CCPI for establishment of Centre of Excellence on Mango at College of Horticulture, Chiplima and Centre of Excellence for FPOs at DEE, OUAT, Bhubaneswar. Currently he is working as Associate Professor (Fruit Science) at College of Horticulture, Chiplima under Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar.
