Dr.Ranvir Singh Gill joined the Sugarcane Research Station, Jalandhar, as an Assistant Breeder on July 4, 1997, after completing his B.Sc. (Hons.) in Agriculture in 1992 and M.Sc. in Plant Breeding in 1995 from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana. He earned his Ph.D. in 2006 from PAU as an in-service candidate.From 1997 to 2012, Dr. Gill was actively involved in sugarcane research, with a brief interlude from 2003 to 2006 during which he conducted research on wheat as part of his doctoral studies. During his tenure in sugarcane, he contributed to the development and release of six varieties—CoJ 85, CoJ 86, CoJ 88, CoJ 89, CoPb 91 and CoPb 92 for cultivation in Punjab. Additionally, he played a key role in the testing and release of four other sugarcane varieties: CoS 8436, CoH 119, Co 0118, and Co 0238.

Dr. Gill was awarded the prestigious Endeavour Fellowship by the Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), Government of Australia. Under this program, he worked at the University of Queensland on the genetic engineering of sugarcane for bioplastics synthesis.Since 2012, Dr. Gill has been actively engaged in Rice Breeding, with a focus on both Basmati and Non-Basmati types. His work emphasizes developing high-yielding, short-duration rice varieties with enhanced grain quality, multiple stress tolerance, and improved resource-use efficiency using both conventional and molecular breeding approaches.

He has contributed to the development and release of three Basmati rice varieties (Punjab Basmati 4, Punjab Basmati 5, and Punjab Basmati 7) and five Non-Basmati varieties (PR 128, PR 129, PR 130, PR 131, and PR 132). Additionally, he has been involved in the testing and release of twelve rice varieties (five Basmati and seven Non-Basmati) at the state and one variety at National level.Dr. Gill has published 32 research papers in national and international peer-reviewed journals. He has guided five M.Sc. and one Ph.D. student, and is currently supervising one M.Sc. and one Ph.D. scholar.He is presently serving as the Section In-Charge of the Rice Improvement Program, overseeing its research, developmental and administrative activities.

Professional Accomplishments

Research Projects (Ongoing)

1. Breeding Rice (Basmati and Non basmati) for high yield, quality and stability of performance. Plan scheme no 51
2. Targeted breedingfor disaster risk mitigation in wheat (drought and pre-harvest sprouting) and rice (submergence and drought) funded by State Disaster Risk Management Authority, Govt. of Punjab (as Co- PI)
3. Genomics-assisted breeding for development of Dry-DSRready Basmati rice varieties (as CoPI) by DBT, New Delhi
4. Genomic Approaches for enhancing yield potential and resistance to major biotic stresses in Basmati Rice (as Co PI) by DBT, New Delhi
5. Dry Direct Seeded Rice for the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India (Plant Direct) funded by Bill & Melinda Gates (as Co-PI)
6. DevelopmentofHaploidInducerricelinesusingCRISPR-Cas9geneediting systemforhighinductionfrequency (as Co-PI) by DBT, New Delhi
7. Molecular Breeding for improvement of tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, yield and quality traits in crops –Rice (as Co-PI) by ICAR Consortia Research Platform on“ Molecular Breeding”

Research Projects (completed)

1. Stress Tolerant Rice for Asia and South Africa funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (2014-2019).
2. Genetic Enhancement of Basmati Genotypes for disease resistance and threshability through induced mutagenesis funded by Department of Atomic Energy Mumbai, Govt. of India (2015-17).
3. One IRRI-NARES breeding network (Accelerated genetic gains in rice alliance funded by Bill and Melinda Gates (2021-2022).

Research Publications:

1. Gill R S, Puja, Dhindsa G S and Bains N S (2008) Maize induced haploid production from triticale x wheat crosses. Indian J. Genet and Pt. Breed. 68 (4): 387-90.
2. Gowda R S R, Sharma S, Gill R S, Mangat G S and Bhatia D (2023) Genome wideassociation studies and candidate gene mining for understanding the genetic basisofstrawsilicacontentinasetofOryzanivara(SharmaetShastry)accessions.Frontiers in Plant Science 14:1174266
3. Kaur B, Gill R S, Bhatia D, Jain J, Lore J S, Mittal A and Gowda R S R (2023). Genome-wide association studies and expression analysis of GA-related genes for exploring foot rot resistance in rice germplasm. Cereal Res Communorg/10.1007/s42976-023-00458-3 (NAAS Rating: 7.24)
4. Krishnamurthy S L, Sharma P C, Sharma D K, Singh Y P, Mishra V K, Burman D, B. Maj,. Mandal S, Sarangi S K, Gautam R K, Singh P K, Manohara K K, Marandi B C, Chattopadhyay K, Padmavathi G,.Vanve P B, Patil K D, Thirumeni S, Verma O P, Khan A H, Tiwari S, Geetha S, Gill R, Yadav V K, Roy B, Prakash M, Anandan A, Bonifacio J, Ismail A M, and Singh R K (2021). Additive main effects and multiplicativeinteractionanalysesofyieldperformanceinricegenotypesforgeneralEuphytica217:20 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-020-02730-7
5. Lamba S, Gill R S, Rajendran G and Kuchi S (2024) Microbial Decomposer for Crop Residue Management in Rice-Wheat Cropping System. Letters in Applied Microbiology, Volume 77 (11) https://doi.org/10.1093/lambio/ovae106

Awards and Recognitions:

Awards

• Recipient of merit fellowship throughout the M.Sc. Plant Breeding program
• Recipient of ICAR fellowship throughout the B. Sc Agriculture (Hons) program.
• Awarded Endeavour fellowship by Department of Employment, Education and Workplace relations (DEEWR), Government of Australia for advanced training for a period of six months during 2011.
• Rice Research Team got the Overall second Best AICRIP Center Award by ICAR during the year 2023-24 at the 59^th ARGM Workshop Group Meeting held on April 24-26, 2024 at NAASC, New Delhi
• Best AICRIP Breeding Centre Award-2016 (Plaque and Certificate) at 52^nd Annual Rice Research Group Meeting held at AAU, Jorhat

Golden Jubilee AICRIP  Team award -2015 (Plaque and Certificate-team award) from Indian Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad