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Coimbatore
TNAU research scientist bags award
June 30, 2016
Dr. N. Senthil, Head of the Department of Biotechnology at the Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai (AC&RI) has been awarded the Best Researcher Award.
The award was presented to him at the 46th foundation day at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.
Dr. Senthil is actively with the development of several millet varieties and wheat varieties that are suitable to be cultivated in Tamil Nadu. He is also involved in the development in maize varieties through market assisted breeding for specialty traits like beta carotene.
As a plant breeder, Dr. Senthil has conducted millet breeding programmes where he has demonstrated how high yielding minor varieties can be developed. At such programmes, millet varieties like samai [CO(samai)4], panivaragu [CO(Pv)5] and kudaraivali [CO(Kv)2] were released for commercial cultivation for farmers.
In a bid to popularise wheat cultivation in non-traditional areas of Tamil Nadu three new tropical wheat varieties were developed by Dr. Senthil in colloboration with Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) Wellington (bread wheat variety COW (w)1) COW3 and a samba wheat variety COW 2.
Dr. Senthil, being a molecular breeder, the development of improved crop varieties with superior nutritional quality is the major focus of his current research. IN line with this objective, for the last five years, he has obtained funds for implementing various research projects in maize nutritional traits. A press release from TNAU said that these research projects are supported by Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.
Dr. Senthil is working on the establishment of graduate students teaching facility, developing multidisciplinary research project in focus areas of southern agro climatic eco systems of Tamil Nadu.
Currently he also serves as project director, Centre of Innovation at AC&RI, Madurai. His key responsibility is to establish the central instrumentation facility at a cost of Rs. 5.3 crores. This facility would enable students to carry out multidisciplinary research in the field of agriculture.
