- All India Coordinated Research Project on Sorghum, ICAR-IIMR, Hyderabad bagged the prestigious "Chaudhary Devi Lal Outstanding All India Coordinated Research Project Award 2019" during ICARs 92nd Foundation Day celebrations held on 16 July, 2020.
- The exam pattern, mode and syllabus of the Assistant Examination will be uploaded in website as and when it is decided by ICAR, New Delhi ::
- Kharif Agro Advisory
Scientific Staff

Dr. P Rajendrakumar
Discipline: Biotechnology | Designation: Principal Scientist | At DSR Since: 2008
Email: rajendra@millets.res.in | Mobile: 09848186445
Profile video Click hereAcademic Qualifications
Degree | Institute / University | Year of completion | Subject(s) with major field |
---|---|---|---|
Ph.D. | TNAU, Coimbatore | 2001 | Plant Breeding & Genetics |
M.Sc. (Ag.) | TNAU, Coimbatore | 1997 | Plant Breeding & Genetics |
B.Sc. (Ag.) | TNAU, Coimbatore | 1994 | Agriculture |
Employment Record & Experience (Starting from the present position)
Designation | Organization | Institution & place of posting | Period (From-to) |
Duration (years, months) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Principal Scientist | ICAR | ICAR – Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad | 12 Sept., 2014 – continuing | |
Senior Scientist | ICAR | ICAR – Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad | 12 Sep 2008 to 11 Sep 2014 | 6 years |
Research Associate | ICAR | Directorate of Rice Research, Hyderabad | Aug 2004 to Aug 2008 | 4 years |
Research Associate | CSIR | Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad | Feb 2001 to July 2004 | 3 years, 5 months |
Senior Research Fellow | ICAR | Central Institute for Cotton Research, Regional Station, Coimbatore | Oct 2000 to Feb 2001 | 4 months |
Current responsibilities:
- Development of sorghum cultivars for lignocellulosic biofuel production through marker-assisted pyramiding of brown midrib genes.
- Identification of genomic regions associated with grain Fe & Zn and grain quality traits in sorghum.
- Development of DNA markers in little and kodo millet.
- Officer In-Charge, Off-Season Nursery (OSN), ICAR-IIMR, Warangal.
Recent 3 major contributions:
- Developed low lignin sorghum in the genetic background of dual purpose sorghum varieties (CSV 20 and CSV 27) through marker-assisted gene pyramiding of brown midrib genes for further evaluation.
- Identified 16 transcripts that were differentially expressed in hybrids and their parental lines. Also identified 10 grain yield heterosis-related genes in kharif sorghum through real-time PCR.
- Developed genome-wide (GATA)n motif-based SSR markers and intron length polymorphism (ILP) markers in sorghum.
- Identified 30 SSR markers having the potential for the prediction of grain yield heterosis in sorghum
Recent awards and recognitions:
- Awarded a three-year research project under Rapid Grant for Young Investigators (RGYI) scheme by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India during 2010.
- Recognized by Osmania University to guide Ph.D. students in the Department of Genetics.
- Member, Research Advisory Committee (RAC) of Agri Biotech Foundation, Hyderabad.
- Reviewer for research papers/reviews in PLoS One and Frontiers in Genetics.
- Resource person for trainings conducted at the ICAR – Indian Institute of Millets Research, ICAR – Indian Institute of Rice Research, ICAR – Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research, ICAR – National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad and Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore.
- Evaluator of the Ph.D. thesis in Biotechnology from JNTU, Hyderabad; Genetics from Osmania University, Hyderabad and Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Hyderabad.
Current collaborative activities:
- DBT funded collaborative research project with Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad entitled “Development of sorghum genotypes suitable for lignocellulosic biofuel production through marker-assisted gene pyramiding of brown midrib genes”.
Recent most significant publications:
- Jaikishan I, Rajendrakumar P, Hariprasanna K, Balakrishna D, Venkatesh Bhat B and Tonapi VA (2019) Identification of differentially expressed transcripts related to grain yield heterosis in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]. 3 Biotech 9(6): 239.
- Jaikishan I, Rajendrakumar P, Hariprasanna K and Venkatesh Bhat B (2018) Gene expression analysis in sorghum hybrids and their parental lines at critical developmental stages in relation to grain yield heterosis by exploiting heterosis-related genes from major cereals. Plant Mol. Biol. Rep. 36(3): 418-428.
- Rajendrakumar P, Hariprasanna K, Madhusudhana R, Umakanth AV, Elangovan M and Seetharama N (2017) Molecular characterization of parental lines of post-rainy sorghum using simple sequence repeat markers. J. BioSci. Biotech. 6(1): 49-57.
- Jaikishan I, Rajendrakumar P, Madhusudhana R, Elangovan M and Patil JV (2015) Development and utility of PCR-based intron polymorphism markers in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]. J. Crop Sci. Biotech. 18(5): 309-318.
- Jaikishan I, Paik GR, Madhusudhana R, Elangovan M and Rajendrakumar P (2013) Development of microsatellite markers targeting (GATA)n motifs in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]. Molecular Breeding 31: 223–231.
Books Edited
- Madhusudhana R, Rajendrakumar P and Patil JV (2015) Sorghum Molecular Breeding. Springer (India) Pvt. Ltd., ISBN 978-81-322-2421-1, 226 p.
Book Chapters
- Rajendrakumar P, Ganapathy KN, Jinu Jacob and Amasiddha Bellundagi (2019) Genomics of climate resilience in millets. In: Climate Resilience in Millets [Talwar HS, Kannababu K, Venkatesh Bhat B and Vilas A Tonapi (Eds), ICAR – Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad, India, 179-212 pp.
- Mehta BK, Shashikumara P, Vikas Mangal and Rajendrakumar P (2019) Breeding for multiple disease resistance in major food and oilseed crops. In: Challenges and Emerging Opportunities in Indian Agriculture [Srinivasa Rao Ch, Senthil V and Meena PC (Eds), ICAR – National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad, India, 21-50 pp.
- Perumal R, Rajendrakumar P, Maulana F, Tesso T and Little CR (2017) Genetic changes in sorghum. In: Sorghum: State of the Art and Future Perspectives. (Ciampitti I and Prasad V (Eds), gronomy Monograph 58. ASA and CSSA, Madison, WI. ISBN: 978-0-89118-628-1, doi:10.2134/agronmonogr58.2014.0053.
- Rajendrakumar P (2017) Molecular markers for the genetic improvement of millets. In: Millets and Sorghum: Biology and Genetic Improvement. (Patil JV (Ed.), John Wiley & Sons Ltd., ISBN: 978-1-119-12305-7, 341-394.
Other professional activities
- Life Member, Indian Society of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi, India.
- Life Member, Society of Millets Research, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
- Life Member, Indian Society of Plant Breeders, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India