2012 MASHAV Fellowship by Israel Govt. 2010 ISA Associateship Award 2010 Travel grant from Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India 2005 DST Fast Track Project for Young Scientists 1998 Merit Certificate and scholarship in PhD. Programme 1995 Merit scholarship in MSc. Programme ICAR NET (1998, 2001 & 2004)

1. Shalika Rathore, Yog Raj, Pritam Debnath, Manish Kumar, and Rakesh Kumar. 2022. Ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, agrotechnology, and conservation of Inula racemosa Hook f. - A critically endangered medicinal plant of the western Himalaya. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 283: 114613 (IF 4.36).
2. Swati Walia, Tirthankar Banerjee and Rakesh Kumar*. 2021. Efficacy of weed management techniques on weed control, biomass yield and herbicide residue in transplanted wild marigold (Tagetes minuta L.) under high rainfall conditions of western Himalaya. Agronomy 11, 2119. https://doi.org/10.3390/ agronomy11112119 (IF 3.417).
3. Shalika Rathore and Rakesh Kumar. 2021. Optimization of sowing time and salicylic acid foliar spray on growth, yield and chemical constituent profile of Matricaria chamomilla L. in western Himalayan region. Industrial Crops and Products (Accepted July 26, 2021). (IF 5.645).
4. Swati Walia and Rakesh Kumar. 2021. Elucidating the yield and quality response of Tagetes minuta L. intercropped with Zea mays L. under different spacing in the western Himalayas. Industrial Crops and Products. 171.113850. (IF 5.645).
5. Swati Walia, Shalika Rathore, Saizal Jamwal and Rakesh Kumar. 2021. The combined response of elevated CO2 and temperature on Valeriana jatamansi Jones. with worm manuring in the western Himalaya: Integrating growth, biomass and quality. Horticulture Environment and Biotechnology (Accepted July 13, 2021). (IF 1.842).
6. Shalika Rathore, Vinod Bhatt and Rakesh Kumar, 2021. Post harvest storage and distillation time of Cymbopogon flexuosus (Nees ex Steud.) W. Watson biomass affects essential oil content and composition in the Western Himalaya. Journal of Essential Oil Bearing Plants. 24. DOI: 10.1080/0972060X.2021.1957721 (IF 1.699).
7. Yog Raj, Anil Kumar, Sampa Das, Vidyashankar Srivatsan, Dinesh Kumarand Rakesh Kumar. 2021. A comparative analysis of compositional and phytochemical attributes in fruits of low chilling apple varieties cultivated in eastern and western Himalayas. Scientia Horticulture. 286; 110221. (IF 3.463).
8. Deepak Kothari, Rajesh Thakur and Rakesh Kumar. 2021. Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) - Gold of the spices: a comprehensive review. Horticulture Environment and Biotechnology. DOI. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-021-00349-8.(IF 1.842).
9. Meenakshi Thakur and Rakesh Kumar. 2021. Light conditions and mulch modulates the damask rose (Rosa damascena Mill.) yield, quality and soil properties under mid hills conditions of western Himalaya. Industrial Crops and Products. Volume 163, May 2021, 113317 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2021.113317 (IF 5.645).
10. Deepak Kothari, Meenakshi Thakur, Robin Joshi, Amit Kumar, and Rakesh Kumar, 2021. Agro-climatic suitability evaluation for saffron production in areas of the Western Himalaya. Frontiers in Plant Science. DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.657819. (IF 5.753).
11. Kaundal, M., Sharma, R., Vats, S.K., Singh, B. and Kumar, R., 2021. Elevated CO2 temperature and vermicompost effect on growth, phenology, biomass and hypericin content of Hypericum perforatum in the western Himalayas. Plant Physiology Reports 1-12. DOI: 10.1007/s40502-021-00571-7.
12. Swati Walia and Rakesh Kumar. 2021. Nitrogen and sulfur fertilization modulates the yield, essential oil and quality traits of wild marigold (Tagetes minuta L.) in the western Himalaya. Front. Plant Sci., 18 January 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.631154 (IF 5.753).
13. Swati Walia and Rakesh Kumar, 2021. Wild marigold (Tagetes minuta L.) biomass and essential oil composition modulated by weed management techniques. Industrial Crops and Products. 161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2020.113183 (IF 5.645).
14. Meenakshi Thakur and Rakesh Kumar 2021. Mulching: Boosting crop productivity and improving soil environment in herbal plants. Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. 20(1):100287.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmap.2020.100287 100287 (IF 1.857).
15. Shalika Rathore, Pritam Debnath and Rakesh Kumar*. 2021.Kuth Saussurea costus (Falc.) Lipsch.: A critically endangered medicinal plant from Himalaya. Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. 20(4):100277: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmap.2020.100277 (IF 3.4).
16. Rathore S and Kumar R. 2021. Vermicompost fertilization and pinching improves the growth, yield and quality of super food (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) in the western Himalaya. Acta Physiologae Plantareum 43: 23 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-020-03184-z (IF 2.354).
17. Meenakshi Thakur and Rakesh Kumar 2021. Microclimatic buffering on medicinal and aromatic plants: A review. Industrial Crops and Products. Volume 160, February 2021, 113144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2020.113144. (IF 5.645).
18. Munish Kaundal and Rakesh Kumar 2020. Effect of elevated CO2 and elevated temperature on growth and biomass accumulation in Valeriana jatamansi Jones. under different nutrient status in the western Himalaya. J Agromet 22 (4) 419-428 (IF 0.0.548).
19. Meenakshi Thakur and Rakesh Kumar 2020. Foliar application of plant growth regulators modulates the productivity and chemical profile of damask rose (Rosa damascena Mill.) under mid hill conditions of the western Himalaya. Industrial Crops and Products 158.:113024. Doi.: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2020.113024 (IF 5.645).
20. Swati Walia, Vinod Bhatt and Rakesh Kumar* 2020. Influence of drying processing on essential oil yield and composition of wild marigold (Tagetes minuta L.) in the western Himalayas. Journal of Essential Oil Bearing Plants23:4, 686-696, DOI: 10.1080/0972060X.2020.1810137 (IF 1.699).
21. Swati Walia and Rakesh Kumar 2020. Wild marigold (Tagetes minuta L.) an important industrial aromatic crop: liquid gold from the Himalaya, Journal of Essential Oil Research, DOI: 10.1080/10412905.2020.1813211(IF 1.963).
22. Shalika Rathore, Swati Walia, Renu Devi and Rakesh Kumar, 2020. Review on Trillium govanianum Wall. ex D. Don: a threatened medicinal plant from the Himalayas. Journal of Herbal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hermed.2020.100395 (IF 3.032).
23. Debnath, P., Rathore, S., Walia, S., Kumar, M., Devi R. and Kumar, R. 2020. Picrorhiza kurroa: A promising traditional therapeutic herb from higher altitude of western Himalayas. Journal of Herbal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hermed.2020.100358 23: 100358 (IF 3.032).
24. Walia, S., Mukhia, S., Bhatt, V., Rakshak and Kumar, R. 2020. Variability in chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of Tagetes minuta L. essential oil collected from different locations of Himalayas. Industrial Crops and Products 150, 112449 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2020.112449 (IF 5.645).

Technical staff

• Dr Kiran Singh Saini, Senior Technical Officer,
• Dr Arvind Verma, Technical Officer
• Sh Kuldeep Singh Technician Technician 2

PhD students

• Ms Shalika Rathore,
• Mr Yograj,
• Mr Deepak Kothari,

Project staff

• Ms Neha Chaudhary
• Ms Monika Rana
• Mr Vijay Dhyani
• Ms Meghna Thakur
• Ms Saizal Jamwal