Dr. Shivendra Kumar

Dr. Shivendra Kumar is a retired Principal Scientist and Head of the ICAR RCER Research Centre located in Plandu, Ranchi. With a professional background starting from the 1978 batch ARS, he initially worked at the Central Rice Research Institute in Cuttack for five years. Since 1984, Dr. Kumar has dedicated his expertise to the Research Centre in Ranchi. During his tenure as Head from January 2003 to January 2014, he played a pivotal role in planning, implementing, and coordinating multi-disciplinary research, leading to significant achievements in horticultural crop development.

Dr. Kumar's area of work focused on the development of multiple stress-resistant varieties, production technologies for higher profitability, real-time pest forecasting, water productivity enhancement, and watershed development research. He facilitated the formulation of inter-institutional research projects and collaborated with various state government departments to provide technical support for development initiatives. Dr. Kumar also emphasized expanding public-private partnerships for effective technology dissemination.

Throughout his career, Dr. Shivendra Kumar achieved several milestones. He contributed to the management of guava wilt disease using Aspergillus niger formulation and the management of black rot of cauliflower through boron formulation. He played a significant role in developing disease-resistant varieties and hybrids in vegetable crops such as brinjal, tomato, garden pea, cowpea, and Dolichos bean. Dr. Kumar also standardized suitable strains for year-round mushroom production.

Dr. Shivendra Kumar has a remarkable publication record, including 63 research papers, co-authorship of five books, ten book chapters, and thirty extension folders and popular articles. He has received numerous awards and honors throughout his career, including being elected as a Fellow of the Indian Phytopathological Society and serving in various prestigious committees and advisory roles for renowned institutions and organizations.

Currently, Dr. Kumar is working as a Project Management Consultant (Horticulture) of Nippon Koei India Ltd with the Jharkhand Livelihood Promotion Society. He is also a member of the Technical Advisory Committee for Birsa Harit Gram Yojna and the Chairman of the Zonal Monitoring Committee of NICRA-KVK for Jharkhand and Bihar.