Directorate of Research

About the Directorate

The Directorate of Research was established in November 2013. There are seven research stations encompassing three agro-climatic zones under the administrative control of Directorate of Research, SKNAU, Jobner. These include Rajasthan Agricultural Research Institute (RARI) at Durgapura, Jaipur, two Agricultural Research Stations located at Navgaon (Alwar) and Fatehpur-Shekhawati (Sikar) and four Agricultural Research Sub-Stations at Tabiji (Ajmer), Kumher (Bharatpur), Gonera - Kotputli (Jaipur) and Diggi (Tonk). Rajasthan Agricultural Research Institute, Durgapura is the main Agriculture research station of the University. There are 17 short and long term AICRP and AINP projects operating in Directorate of Research. The research grant mainly comes from ICAR & matching grant from the state govt. in proportion of 75:25. Out of these 17 projects, twelve are operating at Rajasthan Agricultural Research Institute, four at SKN College of Agriculture, Jobner and one at ARS Fatehpur-Shekhawati. The research is being conducted on most of the crops, fruits, vegetables and other crops suitable for this region. About 879.43 ha land is available in different units of the University to conduct research and for seed production.

Mandates

• Basic, strategic and anticipatory research in field and horticultural crops for enhanced productivity and quality.

• Research in frontier areas to develop resource use efficient integrated crop management technologies for sustainable agricultural production system.

• Breeding and evaluation of new crop varieties and hybrids in wheat, barley, pearlmillet, groundnut, pulses, and seed spices for the zones of SKNAUSA.

• Development of low cost agro-technologies for agricultural and horticultural crops and cropping systems.

Objectives

• To plan, coordinate and monitor the Agroclimatic zones need oriented agricultural research

• To develop appropriate production technologies for sustainable production

• To develop linkages with national and international organizations for research and various current aspects

• To extend consultancy services.

Research setup

The territorial jurisdiction and responsibility of this University extend to the districts of Jaipur, Sikar, Alwar, Dausa, Tonk, Ajmer, Bhartpur and Dholpur which comprises about 16 percent geographical area of the state. Agricultural research needs time bound solutions of emerging challenges, while re-orient strategy as multidisciplinary approach to develop the technology which is climate resilient, acceleration of technology development with use of modern biotechnological tools, to minimize the post –harvest losses, provide balanced nutrition through accelerated green fodder production to live stocks, use of modern agro-meteorological and remote sensing tools, and integrating conservation/organic farming. University jurisdiction covers three agro-climatic zones of the Rajasthan.

• Plain of inland drainage (IIA)

• Semi-arid eastern plain zone (IIIA)

• Flood prone eastern plains (IIIB)

Land Resources

The land area is available at different research units of SKNAU, Jobner for research experiments and production of quality seed is as follows:

The major crops of the state, viz, Wheat, Barley, Pearl Millet, Chickpea, Mungbean, Moth bean, Cowpea, Groundnut, Cluster bean, Mustard, Taramira, Seed Spices and majority of vegetable crops are grown in the regions under jurisdiction of the university. Thus, the three agro climatic zones under the jurisdiction of the university have potential to address the needs of the state with respect to food crops, vegetables and seed spices.

At present 17 ICAR funded All India Coordinated Research  Projects (AICRPs ) and the State Government  funded long term projects  are  already  in  vogue  and  dedicated   to the  needs  of  the three zones along with several ad-hoc  projects sponsored  by  various prestigious funding agencies . Besides the basic mandates, the Directorate is on its way to finalize newer mandates in light of the State Agricultural Policy of the Dept of Agriculture, GOR and new frontier areas of R & D in agriculture covering various aspects of Precision Agriculture, Conservation Agriculture, Secondary Agriculture and Specialty Agriculture etc.

Dr. Ummed Singh is a Distinguished University Professor of Agronomy and Director Research, SKNAU, Jobner. Prof. Ummed Singh obtained BSc (Honours) Agriculture (1998) and MSc (Ag) Agronomy (2000) from Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner; PhD Agronomy (2005) from Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi; and Post Doctorate (2011) from Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, P R China. Prof. Singh have served as Assistant Professor-cum-Jr Scientist (2005-2012) at SKUAST-K, Srinagar; Senior Scientist (2012-18) and Principal Scientist (2018) at ICAR-Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur; Dean, College of Agriculture, Jodhpur (2018-19); Director, Directorate of Prioritization, Monitoring & Evaluation, Agriculture University, Jodhpur (2020-21); Dean, College of Agriculture, Baytu, Barmer (2021-23); Associate Dean (Academics), Rajasthan Agricultural Research Institute, Durgapura, Jaipur (2023-24). Prof. Singh has made outstanding research contribution in the field of Biofortification, Cropping Systems Research and Plant Nutrition. He has handled and concluded 23 inhouse research projects and 6 externally funded projects in the capacity of PI and Co-PI/Nodal officer. He has delivered 132 invited lectures in trainings/refresher courses/conferences, 31 TV/Radio talks, organized 19 trainings/winter/summer schools/workshop for Scientists/Teachers, participated in 74 national/international conferences, symposia, webinar, seminar, workshops and have attended 19 summer/winter schools/short trainings.

He has published 79 research papers, 14 review paper, 18 proceeding/lead Paper, 12 technical bulletin/training manual, 4 extension folders, 35 book chapters, 2 book, 1 conference souvenir, 3 annual report, 2 knowledge papers, 44 compendium chapters, 27 conference/symposia/seminar papers, 67 popular articles, 22 extended summaries and 53 abstracts. As a distinguished academician, he is teaching advance courses of Agronomy to the students of PhD (Agronomy), MSc (Ag) Agronomy and BSc (Hons) Agriculture and guiding PhD (Agronomy) and MSc (Ag) Agronomy students. He is and has been life membership of 15 Scientific/Professional Societies, reviewer of 25 journals, editor of 10 journals.

Prof. Singh was conferred Appreciation Award by the District Administration, Barmer, Government of Rajasthan on 74^th Republic Day i.e. 26^th January, 2023 in the field of ‘Outstanding services rendered in the field of agricultural education', SHRIRAM PURUSKAR (2019–20), GKV Society Fellow (2018), Distinguished Scientist Award (2017), ISPRD Fellow (2016), Reviewer Excellence Award (2016), Indian Society of Agronomy Associateship (2015), SERS Fellow (2015), Innovative Scientist of the Year (2014), SHRIRAM PURUSKAR (2013-14), IMPHOS-FAI Award (2013), Chinese Government Scholarship (2009-11), Best Oral Presentations, Best Poster Presentations etc.  Prof. Singh is having international exposure and has been visited to the countries viz; P R China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and United States of America.

Dr. Ummed Singh
8299837429

Staff Details

Details of former Directors 

Seed Productions:

Breeder seed Production (q)