Rakesh K
International Rice Research Institute, Philippines
Biography
Rakesh K Singh is a Rice Breeder in Plant Breeding Division at IRRI, Philippines. His expertise is on breeding rice varieties for abiotic stress tolerance with special reference to salt-affected soils (saline and alkaline soils), as well as zinc deficient and iron toxic soils. He has completed his MSc and PhD degree from GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, India and started his research career in 1986 as a Scientist at Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (Indian Council of Agricultural Research), Karnal (India), where he strengthened the rice breeding program for salt-affected areas. He has moved to IRRI Philippines in 2005 and led the salinity breeding group to developed salinity tolerant and first time multiple stress tolerant (salinity+submergence tolerant) rice genotypes at IRRI using molecular marker technology that are released and/or under advance stage of testing for release in various south and SE Asian countries. He has published more than 75 papers in peer reviewed journals and guided many MS and PhD students from India, Philippines, Myanmar, Iran, Burundi, Madagascar and Egypt. He is also serving as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics at the University of the Philippines at Los Baños, Philippines.