Faculty Profile:

Dr. Usha Nara joined Punjab Agricultural University as Assistant Plant Breeder in the year 2016. She did her graduation in the year 2001 from Maharishi Dyanand University, Rohtak. M.Sc. (Genetics) and Ph. D. (Genetics) with merit fellowship from Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar in the year 2003 and 2007, respectively. She also completed Bachelor of Education in 2008 from Maharishi Dyanand University, Rohtak. She qualified the National Eligibility Test conducted by Agricultural Scientist Recruitment Board, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. After her joining she was associated with Technology Marketing and IPR cell and School of Organic Farming. She has published 40 research papers in national and international journals. She has teaching plant breeding and genetics courses to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Nine undergraduate and three M.Sc. students completed degree under her guidance. Currently, ten undergraduate students are pursing degree under her guidance.

Professional Accomplishments

• Varieties tested

Involved in the testing of four varieties namely PBG 8, PBW 1 Chapati, JC 4 and IPFD 12-2.

• Project completed

NRDC-Innovation Facilitation Centre, funded by National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), New Delhi initiated in the year 2020

Important Publications (Last Five Years)

1. Jyoti Kaul, Ramesh Kumar, Usha Nara, Khushbu Jain, Dhirender Olakh, Om Parkash Yadav, and Sain Dass. 2017. Indian Maize Cultivar (IMCDB): a tool for breeders. Maize Genetics Cooperation Newsletter.Vol 91: 1-3

2. Jyoti Kaul, Ramesh Kumar, UshaNara, KhusbhuJain, Dhirender Olakh, Tanu Tiwari, Om Parkash Yadav, and Sain Dass. 2017. Development of Database of Maize Hybrids and Open Pollinated Varieties Released and Notified for Cultivation in India. Journal of Agricultural Sciences. Vol 9, No. 10: 105-113 (NAAS rating 5.10)

3. Jyoti Kaul, Ramesh Kumar, Usha Nara, KhusbhuJain, Dhirender Olakh, Tanu Tiwari, Om Parkash Yadav, and Sain Dass, 2018. An Overview of Registration of Maize Genetic Resources in India. J. Curr. Microbiol. App. Sci. 7(2): 933-950 (NAAS rating 5.38)

4. Dhirendra Singh, Usha Nara, Chikkappa G.K.and Ramesh Kumar. 2021. Protection of Maize Varieties under PPV & FR Act, 2001. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences. 10(08): 140-148

5. Mandeep Singh, Usha Nara, Antul Kumar, Sittal Thapa, Chandan Jaswal and Hardeep Singh (2021) Enhancing genetic gains through marker‑assisted recurrent selection: from phenotyping to genotyping. Cereal Research Communications doi:10.1007/s42976-021-00207-4(NAAS rating: 6.85)

6. Mandeep Singh, Usha Nara, Antul Kumar, Anuj Choudhary, Hardeep Singh and Sittal Thapa (2021) Salinity tolerance mechanisms and their breeding implications.Journal of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology19:173

7. Mandeep Singh, Usha Nara, Antul Kumar and Chandan Jaswal (2022) Signaling for Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants: A Review. Agricultural Reviews DOI: 10.18805/ag.R-2306 (NAAS rating: 4.63)

8. Mandeep Singh and Usha Nara (2022) Genetic insights in pearl millet breeding in the genomic era: challenges and prospects. Plant Biotechnology Reports doi: 10.1007/s11816-022-00767-9 (NAAS rating: 8.01)

9. Jyoti Bohra Mahar, Sonika Sharma, Rajdeep Kaur, Kiran Grover, Khushdeep Dharni and Usha Nara (2022) Ameliorative effect of lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus Nees ex Steud.) W. Watson and celery (Apium graveolens L.)  against CCl4 induced oxidative stress and acute hepatotoxicity in rats: An in vivo assessment. Annals of  Phytomedicine 11(1):1-8 (NAAS rating: 5.95)

10. Amandeep Singh Sidhu, C S Aulakh, Usha Nara, Surinder Singh, Sukhveer Singh (2022) Evaluation of bread wheat varieties and genotypes under organic farming in north-west India. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 92 (9): 1139-1142 (NAAS rating: 6.37)

11. Harkanwaldeep Singh Gharu, Manjeet Kaur Sangha, Shilpa Gupta, Dharminder Pathak, Usha Naraand Sanjula Sharma (2022) Biochemical evaluation of micro-greens and seeds of punjab celery 1 (Apium graveolens). Agricultural Research Journal  59 (4) : 738-745(NAAS rating: 5.44)

12. Mandeep Singh, Usha Nara, Neeraj Rani, Dharminder Pathak, Manjeet Kaur Sangha and Kirandeep Kaur (2022) Mineral Content Variation in Leaves, Stalks, and Seeds of Celery (Apium graveolens L.) Genotypes. Biological Trace Element Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-022-03359-4 (NAAS rating: 9.74)

13. Mandeep Singh, Usha Nara, Neeraj Rani, Dharminder Pathak, Kirandeep Kaur and Manjeet Kaur Sangha (2022) Comparison of Mineral Composition in Microgreens and Mature leaves of Celery (Apium graveolens).Biological Trace Element Research.https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-022-03483-1(NAAS rating: 10.08)

14. Mandeep Singh, Usha Nara, Neeraj Rani, Kirandeep Kaur and Chandan Jaswal (2022) Genetic, genomic and biochemical insights of celery (Apium graveolens) in the era of molecular breeding. Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmap.2022.100420(NAAS rating: 9.95)

15. Jyoti Bohra Mahar, Sonika Sharma, Rajdeep Kaur, Kiran Grover, Khushdeep Dharni and Usha Nara (2023) Nephroprotective effect of lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) and celery (Apium graveolens) based detoxifying drinks against carbon tetrachloride-induced nephrotoxicity in albino rats. Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences 33 (4)(NAAS rating:6.57)

16. Harkanwaldeep Singh Gharu, Manjeet Kaur Sangha, Shilpa Gupta, Dharminder Pathak, Usha Naraand Sanjula Sharma (2023) Biochemical characterization of punjab celery 1 (Apium graveolens) Leaves and stalks. Agricultural Research Journal 60 (4):575-584(NAAS rating: 5.44)

17. Mandeep Singh, Usha Nara, Kirandeep Kaur, Vivek Pandey Dharminder Pathak, Manjeet Kaur Sangha and Pritpal Singh (2024) Exploring GGE biplot, stability index, correlation, and clustering analysis for growth and seed yield-related traits in celery (Apium graveolens) Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmap.2024.100546 (NAAS rating: 9.90)
18. Mandeep Singh and Usha Nara (2024) Evaluating genetic variability in Celery (Apium graveolens L.) genotypes through morpho-anatomical and pollen traits analysis. Genet Resour Crop Evol.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-024-02269-9(NAAS rating: 7.60)