Genetics and Plant Breeding

Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding at the College was estabilished in the year 1945 as Department of Agricultural Botany. It was later bifurcated as the Dept. of Genetics and Plant Breeding and Crop Physiology. PG programme in the Dept. was initiated in the year 1968 and Ph.D programme was initiated in the year 2009. Till date 364 PG and 19 Ph.D students have passed out from the Department and are placed in prestigious positions.

BPT 5204 rice variety released as Samba Mahsuri in 1986 from the Dept. is still the most popular mega rice variety and is widely cultivated across the country and the globe. It is highly preferred for its excellent cooking quality and fetches premium price and is highly preferred by the farmer, trader, miller and the consumer alike.

The Department is offering seven UG, 12 PG and eight Ph.D courses. The Dept. has four Professors and two Associate Professors as teaching faculty and a Record Assistant, two Agricultural Workman and one Time scale employee as supporting staff. The Dept. is also currently handling an ICAR funded ELP project worth 62.45 lakhs on Groundnut Breeder Seed Production Project. It has a well equipped Bio-technology & Tissue Culture Lab for hands on training to the UG and PG students in molecular techniques.