Education: B.Sc., PAU, Ludhiana (1998); M.Sc., PAU, Ludhiana (2000); Ph.D., PAU, Ludhiana (2005)

Positions held: Assistant Horticulturist, (2003-2015), Horticulturist (2015-2018), Principal Fruit Scientist (2018- till date).

Field of Specialization: Peach, Plum and Lime & Lemon 

Research Interests:

• Post-harvest management of fruits.

Research Projects:

• Eco-friendly approaches to prolong the storage life of pear and peach fruits funded by UGC, New Delhi. 

1. 1. Standardization of safer ripening techniques in mango funded by UGC, New Delhi. 

• Canopy management and plant architectural engineering in temperate fruits funded by ICAR, CITH Sringar. 

• Enhancement of shelf life of fruits using nanocomposite based active packaging funded by ICAR, New Delhi.          

1. Standardization of safer techniques for ripening and enhancing shelf life of fruits and vegetables funded by RDF. 
2. Post-harvest processing and management of fruits in Punjab- its status and market led extension challenges funded by NHM.
3. Plant Health Clinic funded by NHM.

Selected Research Publications (maximum up to 5):

1. Gautam, A, Gill, P.P.S., Singh, N.P, Jawandha, S.K., Arora, Singh, Arashdeep and Ajay 2024. Composite coating of xanthan gum with sodium nitroprusside alleviates the quality deterioration in strawberry fruit. Food Hydrocolloids. 155: doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.2024.110208 (17.0)
2. Adhikary, T., Gill, P.P.S., Jawandha, S.K., Bharadwaj, R.D. and Anurag, R.K. 2021.  Efficacy of postharvest sodium nitroprusside application to extend storability by regulating physico-chemical quality of pear fruit. Food Chem. 346: doi.org/10.1016/ j.foodchem.2020. 128934 (NAAS: 14.50). 
3. Ajay, Gill PPS, Jawandha, SK, Singh NP and Kaur Preetinder 2023. Role of gum Arabic combined with cinnamic acid coating on quality and cell wall degradation enzymes of mango fruits at low temperature. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 259 doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.129088 (13.70).
4. Sinha, A., Gill, P.P.S., Jawandha, S.K., and Grewal, S.K. 2022 Composite coating of chitosan with salicylic acid retards pear fruit softening under cold and supermarket storage. Food Res. Int. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2022.111724 (NAAS: 13.43).
5. Sinha, A., Gill, P.P.S., Jawandha, S.K., Kaur, P. and Grewal, S.K. 2022.  Salicylic acid enriched beeswax coatings suppress fruit softening in pears by modulation of cell wall degrading enzymes under different storage conditions. Food Packaging and Shelf life. 32: https://doi.org/10.1016/j. fpsl.2022.100821 (NAAS: 13.00).

Awards:

1. Awards:  

1. Women Scientist of the year-2024, Indian Pomological Society.
2.  Young Scientist Award -2016, Hi-Tech Horticultural Society, Meerut, India.
3. Shiksha Rattan Purskar – 2013,  IIFS, New Delhi.
4. Young achiever Award – 2010, Society for advancement of Human and Nature, Solan, India.
5. Sh. N. N. Mohan memorial award – 2005, All India Food Processors Association, New Delhi
6. Sardar Bahadur Lal Singh Gold Medal – 2000,  PAU,  Ludhiana, India
7. Dr. M.S. Randhawa Medal – 2000,  PAU, Ludhiana, India

1. B) Fellowships:

1. Fellow Award 2023, Society for Promotion of Horticulture, IIHR, Bangalore, India
2. Fellow Award 2016, Society for Plant Research, Meerut, India
3. Fellow Award 2012,  Hind Agri-Horticultural Society, Muzaffarnagar, India
4. University Merit fellowship holder during MSc and Ph.D programmes.

1. C) : Best paper/poster awards: 09