Pradeep Kumar

Experience

• 

  Tamil Nadu Agricultural University

  Jun 2009 - Apr 2010

  Research Associate and Teaching Assistant

  -Research Associate in ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) Project entitled “Molecular characterization of Colletotrichum falcatum Went, causal organism of sugarcane red rot disease” at Directorate of Centre for Plant Protection Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India. -Research Associate in Govt of India-Dept. of Biotechnology project on “Genetic engineering of sunflower for resistance to tobacco streak virus causing sunflower necrosis disease through RNA silencing” at Directorate of Centre for Plant Protection Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India-Teaching assistant for “Molecular biology of Pathogenesis and Disease resistance” at Directorate of Centre for Plant Protection Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India Show less

• 

  Monsanto Company

  May 2010 - Oct 2012

  Research Scientist-Plant Pathologist at Plant Health Organisation

  -Leading Tomato GBNV EXP project-diagnosis, inhouse screening protocol development, screening of tomato lines-Surveying in different vegetable growing regions, disease hotspots for disease mapping, virulence studies with major focus on Pepper CMV, ChiVMV, Anthracnose-Disease diagnosis (conventional and molecular diagnosis)-Disease screening protocol development and adaptation-Disease screening to identify and confirm disease resistance sources in Peppers, Tomato, Watermelon, Onion, Brassica-Collaborative team work with breeders in disease screening activity-Collaborating with Technology Development team for disease surveys and multi-location trials -Seed inventory management for India Pathology-Resource management-Phyto-sanitation in laboratory, poly houses and field-Environment, Health and safety Show less

• 

  ACSEN Agriscience

  Oct 2012 - Jun 2015

  Plant Pathologist

  -Developing in-house screening protocol for emerging diseases and screening of breeder lines to identify and confirm resistance source in Tomato, Peppers, Cucumber, okra Watermelon and pumpkin.-Tospo virus project : developing inhouse screening protocol for PBNV / GBNV, WBNV and screen breeder lines to confirm resistance-Conducting disease survey and scouting to understand disease epidemics of vegetable crops such as tomato, hot pepper, okra, cucumber, melons-Conducting disease diagnosis by conventional, serological and molecular methods to identify and confirm Fusarium, Phytopthora, Colletotrichum, CMV, ChiVMV, ZYMV, TMV, GBNV-Collaborating with breeders, product development team and sales team for multi-location trialsin disease screening-Supporting breeders in chromosomal studies and pollen studies-Lead farmer education and training on plant protection methods-Phyto-sanitation in laboratory, poly houses and field.-Environment, Health and safety Show less

• 

  East-West Seed

  Jul 2015 - now

  -Managing EWS India Plant Pathology and Entomology programs-Diagnostic laboratory -Develop strategies on Plant Pathology and entomology research -Strong collaboration with public institutes for Pathology/Entomology research-Developed Molecular Pathology lab-Farmer complaint handling to resolve issues concerning vegetable diseases, insect pests and agronomy-Conduct Workshops, E connects, Training on insect pests and diseases of vegetable crops - to Commercial team, Testing teams, Knowledge transfer team and Farmers. - Develop vegetable disease and insect pest training modules on diagnosis & IPM strategies - Disease survey and mapping Show less

  • Country Manager- Plant Pathology/Entomology

    Jan 2021 - now

  • Plant Pathologist

    Jul 2015 - Jan 2021