Dr Swarup Kumar Parida, a distinguished scientist at the National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), New Delhi, has been honoured with the prestigious Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Agricultural Sciences for his groundbreaking contributions to molecular breeding and crop improvement. His research has significantly advanced the field of plant genomics, particularly in the development of high-yielding and stress-tolerant rice and chickpea varieties.
Dr Parida has been at the forefront of next-generation molecular breeding for crop improvement. His work focuses on developing novel concepts and integrated genomics-assisted breeding strategies aimed at enhancing yield, plant architecture, and nutritional quality while improving resistance to abiotic stress in rice and chickpeas.
Utilising multiple integrated genomic strategies, Dr Parida and his team have successfully introgressed superior genes and favourable traits into widely cultivated Indian crop varieties. His marker-assisted breeding efforts have led to the development of five high-yielding, stress-tolerant crop varieties enriched with enhanced nutritional quality. His research outputs are considered among the top 5% globally in the field of molecular genetics and genomics-assisted crop improvement.
One of Dr Parida’s most notable achievements is the development of an improved desi chickpea variety with enhanced yield and productivity under drought-stress conditions. By leveraging the drought-tolerance characteristics of an Indian landrace (a locally adapted variety of a domesticated plant or animal) and introgressing it into a popular chickpea variety, his team has created a variant that demonstrates an 11-15% increase in productivity under drought stress. This new variety contains 23- 25% seed protein and is resistant to major chickpea diseases such as fusarium wilt, dry root rot, collar rot, and pod borer. These improved chickpea varieties, now approved by the government, contribute to national food security.
Dr Parida has played a pivotal role in developing user-friendly databases, web servers, and cost-effective genome/ pangenome-based arrays for large-scale genetic marker design and genotyping. His innovative breeding strategies facilitate rapid genetic dissection of complex yield, plant architecture, nutritional quality, and abiotic stress tolerance traits in rice and chickpeas.
His molecular bar codes have been widely adopted in Indian Basmati rice trade and commerce, enabling marker-assisted selection for fertility restoration and the production of pure hybrid rice seeds. His early-maturing, semi-erect, drought-tolerant, and high-yielding chickpea lines, ADVIKA and SAATVIK, have been officially notified in the Gazette of India for national cultivation, ensuring food security.
Born on 26 May 1979, in Basta, Balasore, Odisha, Dr Parida pursued a BSc in Agriculture from Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT), Bhubaneswar (2001). He then completed his MSc in Agricultural Biotechnology from Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (IGKV), Raipur (2004) and earned his PhD in Biotechnology from Jamia Hamdard University and the National Institute for Plant Biotechnology (NIPB), New Delhi (2010).
His professional career began as a post-doctoral fellow at NIPB (2009- 2011), and he later joined NIPGR.
Dr Parida’s outstanding contributions have earned him prestigious accolades. He was honoured with the Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Agricultural Sciences (2024) for his remarkable advancements in molecular breeding and crop improvement. He also won DBT’s Ramachandran- National Bioscience Award for Career Development (2020) and the NASI Reliance Industries Platinum Jubilee Award in Biological Sciences (2019). Earlier, he received the INSA Medal for Young Scientist (2010) and the NAAS Young Scientist Award (2013-14). His doctoral research was recognised with the ICAR Jawaharlal Nehru Award for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Research (2011), and he was also honoured with the Odisha Bigyan Academy Samanta Chandra Sekhar Award in Science & Technology (2018).
He has also been elected as a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) and the National Academy of Sciences India (NASI).
