Neelkanth S. Hiremani

Degree	Discipline	Institute/ University	Year of completion
M. Sc. (Agri)	Plant Pathology	UAS, Bangalore	2010
Ph. D.	Plant Pathology	IARI, New Delhi	2016

Designation	Institute	Period From -To
Senior Scientist	ICAR-CICR, Nagpur	01-01-2025 to till date
Scientist	ICAR-CICR, Nagpur	11-04-2016 to 31-12-2024
Scientist	ICAR-NAARM, Hyderabad	01-01-2016 to 31-03-2016

• Fungal Plant Pathology
• Biological Control
• Molecular Plant Pathology
• Fungal endophytes
• Cotton Diseases

Project title	Funding Agency	Period	Role
Studies on grey mildew disease of cotton caused by Ramularia areola	ICAR-CICR	2020-2025	PI
Harnessing the potential of wild and unadapted germplasm in cotton improvement	ICAR-CICR	2018-2023	Co-PI
Collection, conservation, evaluation, documentation and maintenance of germplasm of cultivated species of Gossypium	ICAR-CICR	2018-2028	Co-PI
Validation and refinement of organic cotton production technology	ICAR-CICR	2021-2027	Co-PI
Genetic diversity and utilization of wild germplasm for cotton improvement	ICAR-CICR	2023-2028	Co-PI
Rapid development of high-yielding Bt cotton varieties amenable for high-density planting system	ICAR-CICR	2023-2028	Co-PI
Insecticide Resistance Management (IRM): Dissemination of Pink bollworm Management Strategies	MoA&FWDAC, GoI	2018 onwards	Co-PI
ICAR-Network Project on Precision Agriculture	NePPA	2022-2027	Co-PI
Targeting technologies to agro-ecological zones- large scale demonstrations of best practices to enhance cotton productivity	MoA&FWDAC, GoI	2023-2026	Co-PI

Sl. No.	Technology	Year
1	ICAR certified technology: Antagonistic and growth promoting potential of endophytic Diaporthe melonis isolate CFS-5 in cotton and non-host crops	2025
2	Variety: Involved in the development of cotton variety CNH-17395	2024
3	Variety: Involved in the development of cotton variety CNH-18529	2024
4	Variety: Involved in the development of cotton variety CICR-H-Bt Cotton 40 (PKV 081 Bt) re-notified for south zone under irrigated conditions	2024
5	ICAR certified technology: Development of loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP): A new tool for rapid diagnosis of cotton leaf curl viral disease	2023
6	AICCIP: Sponsored the technology entitled “Field evaluation of endophytic BCAs along with chemicals for seed and soil-borne diseases” for multilocation evaluation at three zones under AICCIP	2023
7	Technology: Enhanced plant growth and antioxidative defense system through endophyte seed biopriming in cotton (Gossypium spp.) and non-host crops	2022
8	Variety: Involved in the development of cotton variety ICAR-CICR Bt 14 (ICAR-H Bt cotton 50)	2021
9	Variety: Involved in the development of first naturally colored cotton variety ICAR-CICR-16301 DB (Vaidehi-1)	2021
10	Technology: Identification of potential endophytic biocontrol agents, first report, from desi cotton (G. arboreum)	2020
11	Technology: Identification of antimicrobial VOCs- Identified four major antimicrobial volatile organic compounds from efficient cotton endophyte Nigrospora sphaerica isolate CEL 19	2020

• Participated in the National Conference on “Current Perspectives on Crop Health and Sustainable Plant Disease Management”, organized by Indian Phytopathological Society, New Delhi and BCKV-Kalyani, at FACC-Lake Hall, Kalyani (WB) from February 18-20, 2026.
• Participated in the National Conference on “Emerging Issues and Sustainable strategies in Plant Health Management: A Global Perspective”, organized by Indian Phytopathological Society, New Delhi and ICAR-CCRI, Nagpur (MH) at Nagpur from 19-21, January, 2025. 
• Participated in the 1^st International Conference on Emerging Technologies in Agriculture and Allied Sciences (ETAAS2024) Organized by Society for Agriculture, Allied Sciences & Technology(SAAST) Odisha, School of Agriculture, SR University, Warangal & Meadow Agriculture Pvt. Ltd., UP on 10-11 August, 2024.
• Participated in the ‘International Conference on Plant Health Management (ICPHM-2023): Innovation and Sustainability’, held from 15-18 November, 2023 at PJTSAU, Hyderabad.  

TRAINING ATTENDED (Winter School / Summer School/ Short duration (10 to 20 days)

• Nil

TRAINING CONDUCTED

• Training on “Organic insect pests and disease management” from 01-10-2024 to 31-10-2024 for imparting training to the Technicians (T1) 

INVITED LECTURES 

Nil during the reporting period

Nil during the reporting period

RESEARCH ARTICLES (not more than 10)

Hiremani, N. S., Verma, P., Gawande, S. P. et al. (2020) Antagonistic potential and phylogeny of culturable endophytic fungi isolated from desi cotton (Gossypium arboreum L.), South African Journal of Botany doi: 10.1016/j.sajb.2020.03.008. (NAAS rating 8.7)

Verma, P., Hiremani, N. S.^*, Gawande, S. P., Sain, S. K., Nagrale, D. T., Narkhedkar, N. G., & Prasad, Y. G. (2022). Modulation of plant growth and antioxidative defense system through endophyte biopriming in cotton (Gossypium spp.) and non-host crops. Heliyon, 8(5). (NAAS rating: 9.4)

Salunkhe V N, Gawande S P, Gokte-Narkhedkar N, Nagrale D T, Hiremani N. S. and Waghmare V N. (2020). First report of Colletotrichum siamense causing leaf anthracnose on cotton in India. Plant Disease, 104(7): https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS09-19-1992-PDN. (NAAS rating 10.40)

Sain, S.K., Monga, D., Hiremani, N. S., Nagrale, D. T., Kranthi, S., Kumar, R., Kranthi, K.R., O.P. Tuteja, Waghmare, V N. 2021. Evaluation of bioefficacy potential of entomopathogenic fungi against the whitefly (Bemisia tabaci Genn.) on cotton under polyhouse and field conditions. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, 183:107618, ISSN 0022-2011, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jip.2021. 107618. (NAAS rating- 9.60)

Nagrale, D.T., Gawande, S. P., Shah, V., Verma, P., Hiremani, N. S., Prabhulinga, T., Narkhedkar, N. G. and Waghmare, V. N. (2022) Biocontrol potential of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by cotton endophytic rhizobacteria against Macrophomina phaseolina. European Journal of Plant Pathology, https://doi.org /10.1007/s 10658-022-02490-1. (NAAS rating- 7.70)

D. T. Nagrale, S. P. Gawande, Vivek Shah, Pooja Verma, N. S. Hiremani, T. Prabhulinga, N. G. Narkhedkar, V. N. Waghmare (2022). Biocontrol potential of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by cotton endophytic Rhizobacteria against Macrophomina phaseolina. European Journal of Plant Pathology. 163: 467–482. (NAAS rating- 7.90)

D. T. Nagrale, S. P. Gawande, N. S. Hiremani, N. G. Narkhedkar. (2020) Occurrence and pathogenicity of Enterobacter sp. causing sprout decay and seedling stunting of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Journal of Phytopathology. 168: 391-398. (NAAS rating- 7.10) 

Sain, S. K., Monga, D., Kranthi, S., Hiremani, N. S., Nagrale, D. T., Kumar, R., Verma, S. K. and Prasad, Y. G. (2022). Evaluation of the bioefficacy and insecticide compatibility of entomopathogens for management of whitefly (Hemiptera: aleyrodidae) on upland cotton under laboratory and polyhouse conditions. Neotropical Entomology, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-022-00964-9. (NAAS rating- 7.70)

D. T. Nagrale, A. Chaurasia, S. Kumar, S. P. Gawande, N. S. Hiremani, Raja Shankar, N. Gokte‑Narkhedkar, Renu, Y. G. Prasad. (2023). PGPR: The treasure of multifarious beneficial microorganisms for nutrient mobilization, pest biocontrol and plant growth promotion in field crops. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 39:100. (NAAS rating- 10.20) 

Salunkhe, V. N., Gawande, S. P., Nagrale, D. T., Narkhedkar, N. G., Hiremani, N. S. and Waghmare, V. N. 2019. First report of Corynespora leaf spot of cotton caused by Corynespora cassiicola in Central India. Plant Disease, 103(7):1785. (NAAS rating- 10.40)

BOOK CHAPTERS AND CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

Rajesh Waghunde, Mrugesh Khunt, Rahul Shelake, Neelakanth Hiremani, V. A. Patil, J. Y. Kim. (2023). Endophytes: A potential bioagent for plant disease management. In: Microbial Endophytes and Plant Growth Academic Press, p316: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-90620-3.00013-1 

Salunkhe V. N., Hiremani, N. S., Rajkumar, B. (2022). Abiotic Stresses and Plant Diseases Impacts and Management. ICAR-NIASM Baramati, p583.

Sain S. K, Banu G, Valarmathi P, Gawande S. P, Nagrale D. T, Hiremani N. S., Monga D, Khan M. R, Sharma R. K. (2021) Cotton: Important disease and nematode problems. In: Diseases of Nationally Important Field Crops. Khan M. R., Haque Z. and Ahmed F. (eds). Today and Tomorrow’s Printers and Publishers, New Delhi, India. Pp 501-537.

Verma, P., Hiremani, N. S., Pande, R. and Md. Shamim. (2019). PGPRs for the control of soil-borne diseases. In: Biofertilizers and biopesticides in sustainable agriculture. (Eds) Kaushik, B. D., Kumar, D. and Shamim Md. Apple Academic Press

PAPER PRESENTED IN CONFERENCE/ SEMINAR / SYMPOSIA (in the last 3 years)   

International

1. Presented a paper on “Role of secondary metabolites in cotton disease management”, during the 1st International Conference on Emerging Technologies in Agriculture and Allied Sciences (ETAAS2024) Organized by Society for Agriculture, Allied Sciences & Technology(SAAST) Odisha, School of Agriculture, SR University, Warangal & Meadow Agriculture Pvt. Ltd., UP on 10-11 August, 2024.
2. Presented a paper on “Grey mildew disease of cotton: A re-emerging threat to Gossypium hirsutum” during the ‘International Conference on Plant Health and Management (ICPHM 2023): Innovation and Sustainability’, held from 15-18 Nov. 2023 at PJTSAU, Hyderabad. 

National 

1. Presented a paper on “Grey mildew disease in cotton: A re-emerging threat to Gossypium hirsutum” in the National Conference on “Current Perspectives on Crop Health and Sustainable Plant Disease Management”, organized by Indian Phytopathological Society, New Delhi and BCKV-Kalyani, at FACC-Lake Hall, Kalyani (WB) from February 18-20, 2026.
2. Presented a paper on “Deep learning for crop health: CNN based identification of grey mildew disease caused by Ramularia areola in cotton” during the National Conference on “Emerging Issues and Sustainable strategies in Plant Health Management: A Global Perspective”, organized by Indian Phytopathological Society, New Delhi and ICAR-CCRI, Nagpur (MH) at Nagpur from 19-21, January, 2025. 

POPULAR ARTICLES/ SHORT NOTES/ SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 

• Hiremani, N. S., Gawande S. P., Pooja Verma, Sain, S. K. (2023). Endophytes- biocontrol agents against major diseases in cotton. Cotton Innovate, 1(3):1.
• Gawande S. P., Nagrale D. T., Hiremani, N. S. and Prasad, Y. G.  (2023). Kapashiteel mulakuj rogache ekatmik vyavsthapan. Sakal Agrowon, 2023, 29 July.
• Vinita Gotmare, Chandrashekar. N., Rachna Pande and Neelakanth Hiremani, 2022. Wild species and Germplasm accessions: Boon to Cotton improvement. Cotton Innovate, 9(2:1).
• Prabhulinga T., Rachna Pande, Shah Vivek Hanskumar, Neelakanth Hiremani, Fand Babasaheb Bhaskar. 2022. Makadi vish – Naashikeet prabandan ke liye ek adbuth jeevavish. Kapasika. 2022. 60-61.
• Dipak Nagrale, Shailesh Gawande, Neelakanth Hiremani, Vijay Waghmare. (2020). Kapasheetil Bonde Sadanyavaril Upayyojana. Sakal-Agrowon (Pune Main) Pp. pp.11, 01-09-2020 (Marathi).
• Shailesh Gawande, Dipak Nagrale, Neelakanth Hiremani. (2020). Koraynespora Burashijanya Pananvaril Tipke Rogacha Pradurbhav. Sakal Agrowon (Pune Main) Pp. pp.10, 11-09- 2020 (Marathi).
• Shailesh Gawande, Dipak Nagrale, Neelakanth Hiremani (2020). Kapasheetil Akasmik Mar Rog Niyantranasathi Upay yojana. Sakal- Agrowon (Pune Main) Pp. pp.11, 29-08-2020 (Marathi).

RESEARCH BULLETIN/ EXTENSION BULLETINS 

• Gawande S.P., Nagrale D.T., Hiremani N.S., Gokte-Narkhedkar N. and Waghmare, V. N. 2019. Kapasitheel rogasambandhi tatkalik samasya: kaarane ani ekatmik rog vyavastahapan (Marathi). In: Kapus Melawa-2019 Smaranika.

• Life Member, Indian Phytopathological Society, New Delhi
• Member, Indian Society for Cotton Improvement, Mumbai 
• Life Member, Society for Advancement of Agricultural Innovations 

• Member Secretary, IRC & PIMS
• Member Secretary, Website Management/ Social Media  
• Member, ITMC
• Member, SCSP
• Member, Institute Purchase Advisory Committee 
• Member, Institute Technology Park Demonstration Committee

• Special Project on Cotton
• IRM-PBW

I certify that the above information is correct to the best of my knowledge… 

Dr. Neelakanth S. Hiremani