Dr. Navita Ghai joined PAU as Assistant Botanist on 21.08.1998 after completing BSc (Medical) from GNDU, Amritsar in 1989 She did her MSc (Botany) in 1992 and PhD (Botany) in 1996 from PAU, Ludhiana. She worked as Assistant Plant Physiologist (adhoc basis) at Sugarcane Research Station, Jalandhar from 1996 – 1998. She joined as Associate Professor on 21.08.2007 and Professor on 21.08.2013. Her field of specialization is Plant Physiology and areas of interest are Stress physiology (biotic and abiotic), hormonal regulation in crop plants and nutrient use efficiency in plants. Presently she is working as CoPI in an Indo-Dutch project “Adapting tomato germplasm to dry and humid heat of Indian monsoonal climate” funded by DBT. She has guided 18  MSc and and 6 PhD students as major advisor, published 70 research papers in national and international journals and presented 52 papers in national and international conferences. Presently she is Coordinator, External Examinations, CoBS&H, Chairperson, Examination and Time Table Committee, CoBS&H, Member, Disciplinary Committee, CoBS&H and Chairperson of the Research Committee of Department of Botany.  

Professional Accomplishments

Research Projects completed

1. Thermotolerance induction through heat acclimation and biomolecules in Brassica spp funded by UGC in 2008 as PI 
2. Development of high yielding and early maturing varieties of arhar and cowpea funded by State Government under Rural Development Fund, in 2012 as collaborator with Pulses Section, Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, 
3. Physiological and biochemical mechanisms governing heat tolerance in tomato and pepper; and screening germplasm for high temperature stress tolerance funded by DST in 2015 as CoPI 

Research Publications:

1. Kawatra A, Ghai N and Dhillon B S (2021) Growth and reproductive efficiency of transplanted rice (Oryza sativa L.) in relation to seedling age and growth regulators. Agricultural Research 10:  582–591(NAAS Rating: 7.40)
2. Chahal GK, Kaur A and Ghai N (2022) Mitigation of salt stress with Azospirillium and Azotobacter inoculation in maize (Zea mays L.) Cereal Research Communications 50: 915–27     (NAAS Rating: 6.85)
3. TejinderPreet, Ghai N, Jindal SK and Sangha MK (2023) Salicylic acid and 24-epibrassinolide induced thermotolerance in bell pepper through enhanced antioxidant enzyme system and heat shock proteins. Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology 25(1): 171-183 (NAAS Rating: 7.10)
4. Kaur J, Ghai N, Chahal G K and Sandhu S (2024) Characterization of maize inbred lines using principal component and cluster analysis for heat tolerance at the seedling stage under in vitro conditions. Cereal Research Communications 52(4) 1431-1442. (NAAS Rating: 6.85)
5. Kapoor I, Chahal G K, Sharma M, Ghai N and Dhatt A S (2024) Barriers to interspecific hybridization between Cucurbita pepo L.and Cucurbita moschata Duch. Journal of Plant Growth Regulation https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-024-11289-9  (NAAS Rating: 10.80)

Awards and Recognitions:

1. Merit certificate in B.Sc.
2. University merit fellowship and merit certificate in M.Sc.
3. University merit fellowship in PhD
4. Fellow, Indian Society of Pulses Research and Development

Ongoing Project: 

Adapting tomato germplasm to dry and humid heat of Indian monsoonal climate in 2023 funded by DBT as Co-PI