Dr. Jagdish Kumar Arora is an Extension Scientist in the Department of Plant Pathology at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana. He has more than 20 years of experience in guiding farmers through both university and corporate sector work, mainly in protecting fruit crops and cotton from pests and diseases. He earned his B.Sc. Agriculture (Hons.) in 1995, M.Sc. in Plant Pathology in 1998, and Ph.D. in Plant Pathology in 2022, from different universities. Before joining PAU, he worked for over 10 years in the corporate sector, serving and supporting farmers. Along with his extension work, Dr. Arora has completed many extension and research projects on cotton, fruit, and paddy crops to address major problems faced by farmers. His main focus areas are Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Integrated Disease Management (IDM) for cotton and citrus. He has led or worked on 12 sponsored projects as Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) or Principal Investigator (PI).He has developed important solutions for citrus foot rot, gummosis, citrus psylla, cotton whitefly, and pink bollworm. In recognition of his work, he has received the Best Scientist Award (Extension Scientist) and the Dr. G.S. Khush Award for Transfer of Technology. He has also contributed 12 official recommendations for the benefit of farmers.

Professional Accomplishments

Research / Extension Projects Handled (As PI & Co-PI)

• National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) – CRIDA, Hyderabad

• Development and validation of IPM strategy for mandarin orchards under semi-arid (Punjab & Rajasthan) and north-eastern region of India – NCIPM, Delhi

• Testing of Horticultural Mineral Oil (HMO) against citrus insect pests – Bharat Petroleum

• Evaluation of new molecule HGW86 10% (Benevia) against citrus insect pests – DuPont Pvt. Ltd.

• Bioefficacy evaluation of Roko (Thiophanate methyl 70% WP) against fruit drop in citrus – Biostadt India Pvt. Ltd.

• Bioefficacy of Profiler (Fluopicolide 4.44% + Fosetyl-Al 66%) against citrus gummosis/foot rot – Bayer Crop Science

• Sustainable rice production with conservation of natural resources through direct seeded rice – Pesticides India Pvt. Ltd.

• Enhancing cotton productivity through integrated crop solutions – Bayer Crop Science

• Development, validation and popularization of cotton IPM in cotton-based cropping system – NCIPM, Delhi

• Training for extension functionaries and farmers on high quality citrus production for export – NHM

• Frontline demonstration on rejuvenation of saline orchards to restore productive potential – NHM

• Popularization of fruit nutrition gardens in Punjab – NHM

• Evaluation of GEAC-approved Bt cotton hybrids (Kharif 2017) – Private Companies

• Cotton development programme in Punjab – Punjab Government

       Extension Projects in hand

• Dissemination of IPM Practices for management of Pink Bollworm and higher productivity of   Cotton in district Fazilka”

Publications 

1. Kumar, V., Kaur, A. and Arora, J.K. (2025). Efficacy of insecticides against pink bollworm Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) in Bt cotton. Indian Journal of Entomology (Online Published), Ref. No. e24298. (5.38)

2. Singh, M., Arora, J. and Sunayana. (2025). Effect of agronomic practices on the yield of Bt cotton hybrids under different pest scenarios. Journal of Cotton Research and Development 39(1): 14–18

3. Arora, J.K., Gupta, S. and Choudhry, S. (2022). Fluxapyroxad 333 FS – a novel systemic fungicide for effective management of black scurf of potato. The Pharma Innovation Journal 11(8): 1253–1256. (5.84)

4. Arora, R. and Arora, J. (2021). Yield losses in relation to cotton leaf curl virus diseases in Bt-cotton hybrid in north-western India. Agricultural Research Journal 58(4): 728–734. (5.16)

5. Pathania, M., Arora, J.K. and Arora, P.K. (2021). Incidence and severity of insect-pests and diseases of Kinnow mandarin. Indian Journal of Horticulture 78(3): 280–286. (6.00)

6. Arora, A.  and   Arora ,J    (2021). Sodium hypochlorite: An economical technology for management of citrus gummosis. Agricultural Research Journal 58(4):  12-14 

7. Kumar, S., Manes, G.S. and Arora, J. (2020). Comparative field evaluation of auto rotate gun sprayer for control of Bemisia tabaci in cotton crop. African Entomology 28(2): 300–311. (6.57)