J C Tarafdar Editor

J. C. Tarafdar, PhD, is former Emeritus Scientist and National Fellow, ICAR–Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. Dr. Tarafdar has made an original and well-recognized contribution to the mobilization of native phosphorus as the first in the world to have successfully developed biosynthesized nanonutrients and nano-induced polysaccharide powder for agricultural use. He has also developed many new techniques that are now used in soil biology. Dr. Tarafdar has travelled and lectured widely in many countries and has published nearly 400 research articles in national and international journals as well as over 40 book chapters and five books. He holds four patents and has 73 new organisms to his credit. His work has been cited more than 9200 times; he has a 45 h-index. Dr. Tarafdar has been included on the list of Top 2% Scientists Worldwide 2023 by Stanford University. He has received many awards for his work and has been named a fellow of many prestigious academic societies. He received his MSc and PhD degrees in soil science and agricultural chemistry from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, and his postdoctoral degree from the Institute of Agricultural Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany.

Deepak Kumar, PhD, is presently working as Executive Director of R&D at Nextnode Bioscience Pvt. Ltd., Kadi, India, and Director of R&D at the DSIR-recognized laboratory of Shri Ram Solvent Extractions Pvt. Ltd. He is the author or co-author of 20 peer-reviewed journal articles, three books, one patent, and 20 book chapters. He has been involved in the quality production of biofertilizers and biopesticides for the last 12 years. Dr. Kumar is a certified farm advisor and also worked as a technical expert member (biofertilizer) to start the ICAR-IISR Agribusiness Incubation Centre, Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Additionally, Dr. Kumar was selected as an AYE mentor by IFCI Venture Capital Funds Limited (an Indian government undertaking) for SC/ST (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) mentorship under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India. He has also completed and guided six indigenous and externally funded (DSIR and DST) research projects. Dr. Kumar recently developed and licensed a neem endophytic mycoflora-based mycofertilizer, namely AsperPhos, which showed potential in mineral solubilization. Moreover, he is a technical consultant for more than a dozen companies, providing customized technical support. He is an active member of several associations and bodies as well. He has received many prestigious awards from different scientific and market research organizations.

Sanjay K. Singh, PhD, is currently a Scientist ‘F’ and In-Charge at the Biodiversity and Paleobiology Group, Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, Maharashtra, India. With vast experience in fungal biology and plant pathology, Dr. Singh has made a major contribution by establishing the state-of-the-art National Facility for Culture Collection of Fungi, an exclusive repository for fungi, which is affiliated with the World Federation for Culture Collection. More than 700 academic research institutions and about 100 industries spread across 28 states in India are beneficiaries of this facility. Dr. Singh received specialized training with world-renowned researcher Prof. Gary A. Strobel, Montana State University (MSU), USA, on the biology of endophytes and their bioactive metabolites. He supervised Dr. Frank Ackiah, from Ghana, who was selected for the CV Raman International Fellowship for African Researchers, sponsored by DST, Govt. of India, in 2018. Dr. Singh is an elected fellow of the Maharashtra Academy of Sciences and the Indian Phytopathological Society, and an honorary fellow of the Society for Biotechnology (India). He has received several postdoctoral fellowships as well. He was elected President, West Zone, of the Indian Phytopathological Society (2008-09) and a council member of IPS and MSI. He is a life member of several prestigious societies. Dr. Singh has operated 14 projects, published more than 115 research papers, three books, 20 book chapters, and delivered more than 30 invited lectures in symposiums, seminars, and workshops. He has organized three conferences and more than 15 capacity-building national-level workshops and served as a reviewer and editorial board member for prestigious journals.

Krishna Pal Singh, PhD, is currently working as Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, India. He has served as Director of the Uttarakhand Council for Biotechnology, Govt. of Uttarakhand, India; Vice-Chancellor of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, India; Vice-Chancellor of Maharana Pratap Horticultural University, Karnal, Haryana, India; and as Associate Professor of Biophysics at the G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, India. He is the author or coauthor of 80 peer-reviewed journal articles, 10 book chapters, four conference papers, and 10 books. His areas of research are nanobiosensors, molecularly imprinted polymers as plastic antibodies, targeted drug delivery through nanomaterials, nano-signaling through biomembranes, nanotoxicity, and molecular diagnostics. Currently, he is working on sustainable development through scientific innovation and research encompassing applied agriculture, applied science, and nanotechnology. Dr. Singh’s emphasis is on the creation of an eco-hub for startups and entrepreneurship using cutting-edge technologies. He earned his MSc, MPhil, and PhD degrees in Chemistry (area of research: membrane biophysics) from Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh, India. He did further research on the structure elucidation of biomolecules, nanosignaling, targeted drug delivery, and nanobiosensors was done at Technical University Bratislava (Slovakia), Ruder Boskovic Institute Croatia (Europe), and Cranfield University, U.K.