Dr Harcharan Dass

Founder Director, National Research Centre for Citrus (now C.C.R.I), Nagpur

Dr Das standardized rootstocks for grapes which have become quite popular among Maharashtra grape growers. Dr Dass also worked on ideal planting density and developed flower induction technology in pineapple. He also mapped more than 70 Citrus taxa using modern taxonomic methods and observed rich gene pool in indigenous Citrus species. He identified Jalore Seedless pomegranate for arid areas made technology available for rejuvenating declined Nagpur mandarin orchards and also developed methodology for multiplying disease free planting material of Nagpur mandarin using in vitro shoot tip grafting technique. He was also instrumental in standardizing post- harvest handling technology for reducing post-harvest losses of Kinnow and popularised the same in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. Lately, Dr Dass has written two books namely, Cultivating Organic Vegetables- package of practices and Advances in Organic Production of Fruit crops. He is also an Honorary Fellow and recipient of Life Time Achievement award from Indian Society of Citriculture. Dr Dass has more than 100 research papers to his credit.