Department of Basic Sciences Nauni,Solan (HP)

Dr RK Gupta
Professor & Head

The Department of Basic Sciences was started in 1982-83 as a part of College of Agriculture, Nauni, the erstwhile Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishva Vidyalaya, Palampur. After the formation of Dr. Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry in 1985, it remained a separate department and has since been consolidated and strengthened considerably. Currently, the Department of Basic Sciences is a part of the college of Forestry and has five major disciplines; Microbiology, Statistics, Plant Physiology, Biochemistry and English.

At present, the Department is offering M.Sc. programmes in (Agri) Microbiology, (Agri) Statistics, (Agri) Plant Physiology and (Agri) Biochemistry along with Ph.D. programmes in (Agri) Microbiology and (Agri) Statistics to gear up the basic and applied research in these disciplines. The department has an excellent infrastructure and is actively involved in teaching of both the colleges along with specific research and extension activities. The department has undertaken various research projects and schemes of current importance. We take pride in the fact that our students have been suitably placed in leading national and international universities, ICAR research institutes, industries, government departments, banks etc.

Mandate

Strive for academic excellence in teaching, research and extension activities
Generate human resources in the field of Basic Sciences.
Carry out theoretical and applied research in various fields of Basic Sciences.

Strengths

Multidisciplinary department serving the basic academic and research needs of departments of the constituent colleges of the University.
The department offers M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Microbiology and Statistics. and M.Sc. degree in Plant Physiology and Biochemistry.
Well-equipped laboratories with adequate instruments.
Efficient and experienced teaching staff.

Academics

The Department of Basic Sciences offers both M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in different disciplines.

M.Sc.(Agri) Microbiology
M.Sc.(Agri) Statistics
M.Sc.(Agri) Plant Physiology
M.Sc.(Agri) Biochemistry
Ph.D.(Agri) Microbiology
Ph.D.(Agri) Statistics

Achievements

Dr Sapna Sharma appointed as Sr. Scientist QP & DMPK, UCB Biopharma, Belgium.
Dr Rishi Mahajan appointed as Assistant Professor in Department of Microbiology, H.P.K.V. Palampur.
Dr Abhishek Walia appointed as Assistant Professor in Department of Microbiology, H.P.K.V. Palampur.
Dr Preeti Mehta Kakkar working as Sr. Scientific Officer in Department of Bioenergy, DBT IOC Centre, Faridabad.
Ms Bharti PhD Statistics student selected for Agricultural Research Service (ICAR).
Mr Ajay Rattan selected as Research Officer through HPPSC Shimla in HP Vidhan Sabha.
Dr Rashmi Sharma appointed as Scientist (Microbiology) in Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College & Hospital, Mandi.
Dr Divya Tandon appointed as Assistant Professor (Microbiology) in Department of Microbiology, SILB, Solan.
Dr Sakshi Sharma selected as Post Doctoral Fellow (Microbiology)in University of Arkansas, USA.
Dr Kanika Sharma associated with Microbial Engineering group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi.
Ms Shelly Ranchan, Coordinator Tricity in MBSI, Microbiology Society of India.
Ms Neha Mishra PhD Student received DST Inspire fellowship for PhD programme.

Click here for course details

Research

Thrust Areas

Commercial development of indigenous PGPR / Biofertilizer formulations for temperate horticulture, vegetable, floriculture and medicinal plants.
Conservation of microbial diversity and process development for microbial enzymes.
Development of fermented functional food products
Valorisation of waste to value added products.
Developing statistical models for forecasting area, production, prices and arrivals and application of multivariate techniques in horticulture and forestry crops in Himachal Pradesh.
Establishment of physiological basis of crop response and resilience to climate change.

Major ongoing Research Projects

Validation and dissemination of technology as an enterprise for production of oyster mushroom using apple pomace for the upliftment of rural economy of Himachal Pradesh funded by HIMCOSTE, Shimla
Bioconversion of waste chicken feathers into N-rich organic fertilizer by keratinolytic bacteria for effective waste management in H.P. funded by DEST, Shimla
Determination of Seasonal Chilling Requirement for Endodormancy Release in Apple (Malus x domestica Borkh.) Cultivars funded by UHF Nauni, Solan
Development of microbial consortia for bioremediation of Solid waste funded by UHF Nauni, Solan

Research Achievements

Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria: PGPR formulations for different horticultural and forestry plants viz apple, strawberry, carnations, peas, cauliflower, turmeric, mushrooms, ginger capsicum, shisham, and naagchattri have been developed.
Biofuel production: A novel microbial technology for bioconversion of pine needles to ethanol has been devised at small scale.
Eco friendly Oyster mushroom production: An environment friendly technology for oyster mushroom cultivation utilizing a standardized ratio of apple pomace with higher yield and biological efficiency has been disseminated to farmers.
Functional food products with special therapeutic benefits: Exploration of diversity of probiotic microorganisms from traditional fermented food products of Himachal Pradesh is done. Development of functional foods viz. probiotic yogurt, soya milk products, cereal based products with nutritious and therapeutic properties is accomplished.
Microbial Enzymes: Biodiversity of microbial enzyme producing microorganisms from different potential habitats has been explored for cost effective production of different enzymes viz. Cellulase, Xylanase, Keratinase, Amylase and Lipase etc. Suitable microbial isolates have been used for the composting process.
Management of replant problem of apple using PGPR: Indigenous PGP strains of fluorescent Pseudomonas sp. have been applied to manage replant problem of apple orchards.
A comprehensive evaluation of the post-harvest losses with respect to 54 crops/commodities across all 15 agro-climatic zones of India at various levels of the food supply chain, so as to finalise a national policy framework for the sector to reduce post-harvest losses of Agriculture produce in India. The study included cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fruits, vegetables, plantation crops, spices, eggs, fish, meat and milk.
Proposed alternative approaches for optimum stratification for various sampling schemes.
Appropriate statistical distributions for yield and important auxiliary characters of different horticulture crops were obtained.
An attempt was made to model apple production. Among the various linear and non-linear models, the Rational model (non-linear) was the best fitted model based on goodness of fit criteria values for apple production.

Extension Activities

Scientists conduct trial-cum –demonstration on the use of Biofertilizers and PGPR on vegetable, ornamental, horticultural and medicinal plants ; Ecofriendly & Innovative Oyster Mushroom cultivation technology.

Scientists actively participate and interact with farmers in various extension functions organized by the University at the main campus and at various regional stations.

Extension Achievements

Two Week Training programme on ‘Soft Skills for Statistical Analysis’ organized from May18-31, 2023under NAHEP-IDP.
Trial-cum–demonstration on the use of Biofertilizers / PGPR on vegetables, ornamental and horticultural crops; Ecofriendly & Innovative Oyster Mushroom cultivation technology.
Lectures on use of Biofertilizer/PGPR and Javik Kheti in advanced and general training programmes, KisanMela summer/winter school organized by different departments of the university and other institutions of the state and the country at farmer’s field on vegetable and horticultural crops.
Organized Scientific Workshops, Webinars, National Science Day/National Mathematics Day etc.

Awards/Recognitions

Dr Nivedita Sharma received the State Innovation Award by H.P. Govt.- 2022; Best Faculty Award 2021-University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan; Excellence in Research Publications by UHF, Nauni, Solan; VIFA - Distinguished Faculty in Science Award 2017, Utkrishat Naari Sammaan by Himachal Dastak 2020; SVWS Distinguished Inspiring Women Award 2017; Nominated for “2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of 20th century”, Cambridge England; SADHNA award for best PhD thesis for student; best MSc thesis for student (as Major Advisor)
Dr R K Gupta received the Merit Certificate for Winter School on “Design and Analysis of Experiments”; Consolation–II prize for poster presentation in the Symposium organized by Indian Society of Pest Management and Economic Zoology; SP Dhall distinguished publication award in statistics in year 2014 for MSc thesis work (Major Advisor); Brandis Prize for the year 2012 for the best research paper.
Dr Ashu Chandel received SP Dhall ‘All India Distinguished Publication Award in Statistics -2017’, awarded by Society for Advancement of Human and Nature (SADHNA), YS Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, Nauni, Solan (HP).
Dr Neerja Rana received the Young Scientist award in 8th Academic achievement awards 2020 by EETCRS, Research wing, Mumbai India; Best article award 2022; Best Teacher award by Glacier Journal Research foundation in 2020.
Dr Sunita Devi received “Kanwar Virender Singh Memorial All India Best Publication Award 2021” award; “Uma Datt Mamgain Memorial Research Award 2021” award for M.Sc student thesis work; “Jagar Nath Raina Memorial All India Best Publication Award- 2018”
Dr Neeraj Sankhyan received the ‘‘Outstanding Assistance in Teaching Award-2013’’ at IIT Mandi.
Dr Anju Sharma received the best poster award in 2nd International Conference on ‘Recent advances in Agricultural, environmental and applied sciences for global development’, provided technical expertise as a Statistician to NABCONS, New Delhi for the research study by Ministry of Food Processing Industries, GOI.
Dr Neha Gautam received best paper presentation award for a paper in 1st Himachal Pradesh Science Congress, “Role of Science and technology in sustainable development” held from October 15-16, 2014
Dr Ranjana Sharma received the Best Ph.D. Thesis Award (2014) by Society for Advancement in Human and Nature (SADHNA), UHF, Nauni; ,Women Scientist B project in 2019
Dr Nitin Sharma was awarded ICAR’s Junior Research Fellowship, IARI Junior Fellowship and IARI Senior Fellowship; IARI Merit Medal (Gold Medal) for outstanding academic performance in M.Sc. degree programme.
Dr Sanjeev Kumar received Certificate of Excellence in reviewing awarded by Asian Journal of Research in Botany in February 2023; Asian Journal of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences in February 2023; Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology in February 2023; Asian Journal of Agricultural and Horticultural Research in April 2023.
Dr Geeta Verma received S.P. Dhall distinguished publication award in Statistics- 2013; First rank holder in Department of Basic Sciences in discipline of Statistics.