Worked as Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow, India, during 2022-25. Before joining the institute in Lucknow, worked extensively on sugarcane pathology at ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, India, for 32 years. Major research areas in sugarcane include: • Developing resistant varieties to red rot • Molecular basis of red rot resistance in sugarcane. Pathogenomics of C. falcatum. • Variability in sugarcane pathogens • Diagnosis of viruses/phytoplasma; management of yellow leaf disease • Epidemiology of Fusarium diseases in sugarcane. Made significant contributions in varietal development for tropical and subtropical India, developed new disease screening methods, developed molecular diagnostics for sugarcane viruses and phytoplasmas and applied them for virus indexing of tissue culture raised plants, identified and managed new diseases impacting sugarcane in India, established and managed varietal degeneration in sugarcane in the country, developed a patented technology of mechanized delivery of agro inputs through setts to manage red rot and smut, etc. In addition, made major contributions to characterising major sugarcane viruses, the complete genome/transcriptome of the red rot pathogen, and identifying red rot-resistant/susceptibility genes in sugarcane.