Dr. Revathi Ponnuswamy is a Senior Scientist (Plant Breeding) at ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR), Hyderabad, India, with 17 years of rich experience in rice research. She was awarded a PhD in Genetics from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India's premier agricultural research institute. She is one of the meritorious scientists who successfully spearheaded as Principal Investigator of multi-disciplinary research projects by securing competitive research grants from various organization viz., Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Dept. of Science and Technology (DST), Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) and ICAR.
Her achievements as a successful researcher and plant breeder are reflected in her peer-reviewed publications and development of high-yielding, climate-resilient, and stress-tolerant rice varieties and hybrids to small holder farmers of India. She has received several awards and fellowships to her credentials. In her capacity as an educator, she has mentored and guided the academic pursuits of several M. Sc and Ph.D students.
During Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship for Academic and Professional Excellence at University of California, Davis, USA, Dr Revathi will be trained in a breakthrough Synthetic Apomixis technology from the lab where it was invented. Her research project aims to enhance rice production and productivity, amidst rapidly changing climatic conditions through Synthetic Apomixis, which could save rice hybrid seed cost of millions of resource-poor farmers in India.