Dr. R. K. Singh

Dr. R.K. Singh is Head of Crop Diversification and Genetics Section. He joined ICBA in November 2018. He leads research teams studying such crops as quinoa, barley, millets, cowpea, forages; trees such as date palm; and halophytes like Salicornia, among others.

He started his career in 1986 as a scientist at the Agricultural Research Services of the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (the Indian Council of Agricultural Research) in Karnal, India. He had risen through the ranks to become a principal scientist.

In 2005 he moved to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) as a rice breeder for salt-affected areas. He had worked in different capacities at IRRI until 2018.

Between 2009 and 2012, he served as IRRI’s Regional Plant Breeding Coordinator for Eastern and Southern Africa, based in Tanzania. In that role, he coordinated rice breeding activities in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and Mozambique.

From 2012 to 2016, he worked at IRRI’s headquarters as a rice breeder for problem soils and rainfed lowlands of South-East Asia, including Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

In 2016-2018, he led the trait development team at IRRI focusing on salinity, heat, and problem soils.

In his past roles, Dr. R.K. Singh led the teams which developed and released more than 35 salt-tolerant rice varieties, including a basmati rice variety, in India.

He holds a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding from the G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, India. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), India, and the Mohammed bin Rashid Academy of Scientists (MBRAS), the UAE.

He has published more than 125 research papers in international peer-reviewed journals and over 25 book chapters.