The Department of Crop Physiology at the University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore was formally established in 1976 with the objectives of imparting undergraduate and graduate programs in Crop Physiology and also to undertake research in areas related to the physiology of crop plants. As the name of the Department indicates, there was a clear intention to keep the interest of the Department focused on “crops” rather than “plants”. Accordingly since its inception, the Department has strived to make its teaching and research curricula to be increasingly crop physiology centric and be of relevance to the overall science of crop productivity.

One of the major thematic research areas at the Department has been to comprehensively address plant physiological processes and crop plant responses to abiotic stresses. The explicit aim of the program is to provide basic inputs that could be used in breeding crop plants for tolerance to drought and other abiotic stresses. The efforts at the Department have culminated in enhancing our understanding of the physiological basis of response of plants to drought, identification of germplasm and segregating material tolerant to moisture stress and developing newer approaches towards breeding drought tolerant crops. Efforts have also been made on cloning novel genes imparting tolerance to drought, molecular characterization of genes using novel approaches such as post-transcriptional gene silencing, and in developing QTL/markers for important traits such as water-use efficiency and root characteristics, and also in generating and evaluating transgenic crops for improving tolerance to drought. Another major area of research is on bioresources and bioprospecting, and a concerted effort in this area has resulted in the identification of endophytes associated with plant growth and stress tolerance of crops. Research efforts at the Department have been recognized both nationally and internationally. In recognition of its outstanding track record of research in areas related to plant stress physiology, the Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India approved a DBT-Centre for Drought Research at the Department while the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Govt. of India awarded the Niche Area of Excellence in Drought Research.

The Department houses the National Facility for Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) and serves as a nodal centre for all studies pertaining to the use of stable isotopes in biology. The department has dedicated facilities for analysis of nutrients. A dedicated plant molecular biology facility developed is being used for functional validation of genes, and evaluation of transgenic crops. The department has established Phenomics facility for phenotyping germplasm and breeding material for drought tolerance, and has well protected field facilities with rain-out shelters and transgenic containment facilities.

Dr. M. S. Sheshshayee
Professor & Head, University Head
Department of Physiology
UAS, GKVK, Bangalore - 560065