Dr. Deependra Singh Yadav

Dr. Deependra Singh Yadav, Sr. Scientist  (Agricultural Entomology)

Qualification

• B. Sc. (Ag.) Hons. : 1997-2001 : (Dayanand College, Ajmer) Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner, Rajasthan.
• M.Sc. (Ag.) Hons. : 2001-2003 : Entomology (Major), Biochemistry, Statistics, Plant Pathology and Agronomy (Minors); (College of Agriculture, Bikaner) Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner, Rajasthan.
• Ph.D : 2004-2009 : Entomology (Major), Insect Pest Management (Sub-discipline); Environmental Science, Genetics, Computer Application (Minors) Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India.

Specialization / Discipline

• Crop Protection, Grape Entomology

Positions held

• 18.02.2018– continuing : National Research Centre for Grapes, Pune, MS

• 19.06.2009 –17.02.2018 : National Research Centre for Grapes, Pune, MS

• 10.02.2009 - 18.06.2009 : National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

Area of specialization

• Grape Entomology, Integrated Pest Management

Current research interest

• Sustainable grape protection, Habitat manipulation, Automated monitoring and advisory, Insect behaviour, UAV spraying, Computer vision

Professional experience:

• Simulation of planthopper damage in rice and its GIS-based agro-ecological zoning
• More than fifteen years of research experience in pest management in grapes.
• Technologies developed:

1: Monitoring based simple and effective mechanical management of grapevine stem borer, Celosterna scabrator (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

2: Loose bark removal: A simple yet effective method for managing wood borer, Dervishiya cadambae (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) infestation in grapevines

3: Tailored insecticide selection for efficient grapevine flea beetle, Scelodonta strigicollis management

4: Bio-intensive disease and pest management strategies for safe and sustainable quality grape production

5: Use of plastic cover for quality grape production and mitigating impact of extreme weather events

6: Development of automated fumigation chamber for treatment of grapes with SO₂ and CO₂ and standardization of treatment protocol for export of grapes to New Zealand and Australia

7: Developed Insect and mite pest risk assessment and advisory system (IMPRAS) for thrips, mealybugs, flea beetle, leafhoppers, caterpillars and red spider mites. An Application Programming Interface (API) service was created to commercialize and since 2018 the commercial license was given to many firms for delivering this service to farmers.

8: Delta T Calculator and Grape Advisory: Android mobile applications

9: Trained machine learning models through transfer learning for detection of biotic and abiotic stress conditions on grape berries and leaves

• Resource person in Technical Textiles for Agro-Tech Sectional Committee, TXD 35 for developing IS 17731 : 2021 Indian Standard Agro Textiles - Laminated Woven Orchard Protection Covers.

• Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) certified Remote Pilot for Small (upto 25 kg) Rotorcraft category.

• Knowledge and experience of programming languages, C, PHP, and Python

• More than 6 years of experience of web-hosting, server management (Amazon Web Services (AWS) EC2) and MySQL relational database management.

• Strong research and extension linkages with grape farmers. Average 15 farmers’ meetings are held every year in which total more than 10,000 farmers participate.

• Organized two days National Conference on ‘Generative AI in Practice for Empowering Agricultural Research Productivity’ during September 11-12, 2023 as Organizing Secretary

• Co-guided one Ph.D. and two M.Sc. students

• Teaching experience of more than 10 years for M.Sc. (Wine Brewing and Alcohol Technology) (Pune University – through Vasantdada Sugar Institute, Pune)

Honours and Recognition

• Award of Gold Medal and Merit Scholar in M.Sc. by Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner.

• Best Oral Presentation Award for paper ‘Whole transcriptome analysis of grapevine wood borer, Stromatium barbatum mid gut and identification of major physiological pathways’, ICAR-IGFRI (RRS), Srinagar; ICAR-NA

• Best Oral Presentation Award for paper 'Monitoring based simple and effective management strategy for grapevine stem borer', Indian Academy of Horticultural Sciences (2023)

• Member, Editorial Board, Grape Insight, Society for Advancement of Viticulture and Enology, (2023 & 24)

• Member, Editorial Board, Indian Entomologist, Entomological Society of India (2023 & 24)

• HEP; BAU, Ranchi; NADCL, Baramulla (2022)

• Best Oral Presentation Award for ‘Compatibility of insecticides with entomopathogenic fungi, Metarhizium sp. and Beauveria sp. for biointensive management of pink mealybug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus in grapes, Vitis vinifera L.’, Society for Biocontrol Advancement (2018)

• First Position in Invited Lecture on ‘Potential of pest risk forecasting and automated advisory for high-tech hill-horticulture’, ICAR-CITH (RS), Mukteshwar (2018)

• All India Best Publication Award 2019 for paper ‘Bacterial volatiles from mealybug honeydew exhibit kairomonal activity toward solitary endoparasitoid Anagyrus dactylopii’, Society for Advancement of Human and Nature (SADHNA), YSPUHF, Solan, Himachal Pradesh (2019)

• Dhabolkar Prahog Parivar Award 2018    Shree A. Dhabolkar Prayog Parivar, Maharashtra (2018)

• Best Poster Presentation Award for paper ‘Trap Catch of Jassids, Amrasca biguttula biguttula Ishida (Homoptera: Cicadellidae) as affected by Color, Size and Height of Sticky Traps in Table Grapes’, Association for Advancement of Pest Management In Horticultural Ecosystems (2012)

• Best Oral Presentation Award for paper ‘Development and evaluation of location specific advisory based on weather-crop conditions for optimization of pesticide use and management of pesticide resistance & residues in table grapes’, Association for Advancement of Pest Management In Horticultural Ecosystems (2012)

• Editor of Annual Report 2011-12 which received ICAR’s Best Annual Report Award (smaller institutes). Indian Council of Agricultural Research

• Award of Gold Medal and Merit Scholar in M.Sc. by Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner.

• Merit Scholarship during M.Sc. from Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner.

• IARI senior research fellowship during Ph.D. from Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.

• Qualified National Eligibility Test (NET) 2004, 2006 and 2007, for Lectureship in the discipline of Agricultural Entomology, conducted by Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB), New Delhi.