India: Dr R.K. Arora, 37 Years at ICAR-CPRI and Over 175 Publications on Potato Disease and Seed, Joins the Potato Expert Panel
Dr R.K. Arora, a plant pathologist who worked for 37 years at ICAR-CPRI and has over 175 scientific publications, joins the Potato Expert Panel by Potatoes.News.
Dr R.K. Arora, who worked for 37 years at the ICAR-Central Potato Research Institute (ICAR-CPRI) and retired as Principal Scientist, has joined the Potato Expert Panel by Potatoes.News. A plant pathologist based in India, he specialises in seed potato production and plant protection.
Field research on potato diseases
Arora worked mostly as a field scientist, researching late blight, black scurf, russet scab, bacterial wilt and hi-tech seed potato production. His work is reflected in over 175 scientific publications in national and international journals, bulletins and books.
In 2018 he received the Nanaji Deshmukh ICAR Award for Outstanding Interdisciplinary Team Research for developing a late blight disease forecasting system. He is a Fellow of the Indian Phytopathological Society and of the Indian Potato Association, and served two terms as the association’s Vice President.
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A common standard for seed potato trade
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe invited Arora to meetings on the standardization of seed potato held in Switzerland, Indonesia, the Czech Republic, Finland, the Netherlands and Belgium. He contributed to a common Seed Potato Standard intended as a universal reference for international seed potato trade.
Advising growers and seed companies
Since retiring, Arora has guided potato growers and private seed companies on producing high-quality seed potato, including Egyptian French Company in Egypt and, in India, Merino India Pvt. Ltd and UniAgri Biosciences Pvt Ltd. He has also set up his own farm facility, including aeroponics, to produce G0 potato minitubers at Jalandhar, Punjab.
Areas of expertise
Seed potato production and plant protection; late blight, black scurf, russet scab and bacterial wilt; late blight forecasting; hi-tech seed potato production and aeroponic G0 minitubers; seed potato standards.
WHY IT MATTERS
Seed quality and disease control decide much of what a potato crop can deliver. For growers, seed producers and traders, a specialist who has combined decades of field research on late blight and soil-borne diseases with work on international seed standards and hands-on minituber production can explain what those risks and rules mean in practice.
Join the panel
Potatoes.News invites potato professionals from any country to join the Potato Expert Panel. To apply, write to v.kovalev@potatoes.news with a short biography (80–150 words), your areas of expertise, your country and organisation, and a portrait photo. The panel is the first step towards an international network of potato professionals that we are building together with the International Potato Tour. Read more about the launch of the panel.
Based on the expert profile provided by Dr R.K. Arora. Read his expert profile.
