Scientist Profile
Research interests and current focus
- Physiology of radiation use efficiency in Sugarcane.
- Physiology of promising sugarcane clones for water use efficiency, drought and salinity screening.
Membership in professional societies
Life member in,
- Indian society for Plant Physiology
- Society for Sugarcane Research and development
- Society for Agricultural Research on Abiotic Stress
- Association of Agrometeorology
Awards and honours
- National Eligibility Test (2006) -Indian Council of Agricultural Research- Eligibility for Lectureship / Assistant Professorship in Indian Universities.
- Junior Research Fellowship and National Eligibility Test (2004) – Council of Scientific and Industrial Research / University Grant Commission – Eligibility for Lectureship / Assistant Professorship in Indian Universities.
- Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s Junior research Fellowship” during M. Sc. (Ag.) –5th August, 2003- 1st August, 2005.
- Received the “Appreciation certificate for outstanding performance for the year 2019-2024” by ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
- Received the fellow member (FSTA) from the “The Sugar Technologists Association of India” during 2025.
Research Publications
- Arun kumar. R., Deshmukh, P.S. Singh, T.P. Kushwaha., S.R. and Kiran Bhagat (2008). Superoxide dismutase in chickpea genotypes under high temperature. Indian J. Plant Physiol. 13, No. 1, 88-90 (NAAS: 7.5)
- Arun kumar R., R.K. Sairam, P.S. Deshmukh, Madan pal, Sangeeta khetarpal, Sunil kumar pandey, S.R. Kushwaha and T.P. Singh (2012). High temperature stress and accumulation of compatible solutes in chickpea (Cicer arietinum). Indian J. Plant Physiol., 17 (2):145-150. (NAAS: 7.5)
- Mishra K.K., R.S. Pal, Arun Kumar, C. Chandrashekara, S.K. Jain, J.C. Bhatt (2013). Antioxidant properties of different edible mushroom species and increased bioconversion efficiency of Pleurotus eryngii using locally available casing materials. Food Chemistry 138:1557–1563. (NAAS: 14.50)
- Dibakar Mahanta, R. Bhattacharyya, K.A. Gopinath, M.D. Tuti, Jeevanandan K, Chandrashekara C, Arun kumar R, B.L. Mina, B.M. Pandey, P.K. Mishra, J.K. Bisht,A.K. Srivastva, J.C. Bhatt (2013). Influence of farmyard manure application and mineral fertilization on yield sustainability, carbon sequestration potential and soil propertyof gardenpea–French bean cropping system in the Indian Himalayas. Scientia Horticulturae : (164) 414–427. (NAAS: 9.9)
- Dibakar Mahanta, Raj K. Rai, Shiva Dhar Mishra, Arunkumar Raja, Tapan J. Purakayastha, Eldho Varghese (2014). Influence of phosphorus and biofertilizers on soybean and wheat root growth and properties. Field Crops Research 166: 1–9. (NAAS: 11.6)
- Dibakar Mahanta, R. Bhattacharyya, D. C. Sahoo, M. D. Tuti, K. A. Gopinath, Arun kumar, B. L. Mina, B. M. Pandey, J. K. Bisht, A. K. Srivastva and J. C. Bhatt. (2015) Optimization of farmyard manure to substitute mineral fertilizer for sustainable productivity and higher carbon sequestration potential and profitability under gardenpea-French bean cropping system in the Indian Himalayas. Journal of Plant Nutrition 38(11):1709-1733. (NAAS: 7.60)
- Salej Sood, Rajesh K. Khulbe, Arun Kumar R. Pawan K. Agrawal, Hari D. Upadhyaya (2015). Barnyard millet global core collection evaluation in the submontane Himalayan region of India using multivariate analysis. The Crop Journal: 517 – 525. (NAAS: 12.00)
- Pal, R.S, Anuradha Bhartiya, Arun Kumar, Lakshmi Kant, J. P. Aditya &J. K. Bisht (2015). Impact of dehulling and germination on nutrients, antinutrients, and antioxidant properties in horsegram. J Food Sci Technol. 53(1):337-47. (NAAS: 8.6)
- Dibakar, M, Dhar, S., Varghese, E., Arun kumar R, Purakayastha, T (2018). Modification of root properties with phosphate solubilizing bacteria and arbuscular mycorrhiza to reduce rock phosphate application in soybean wheat cropping system. Ecological Engineering: 111:31-43. (NAAS: 9.9)
- Arun kumar R, Kant L, Pal RS, Stanley J, Sharma A,Raghu B.R, Panday and Bhatt JC (2019). Climate resilient wheat production under changing climatic conditions in north western Himalayas of India. Journal of Agrometeorology: 21 (Special issue-“NASA 2014” part-III): 16-19. (NAAS: 5.45)
- Tayade, A., Vasantha, S., kumar, Arun Kumar, R.,, Kumar, R., Hemaprabha, G. (2020). Irrigation water use efficiency and water productivity of commercial sugarcane hybrids under water-limited conditions. Transactions of the ASABE (American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers). 63. 125-132. (NAAS: 7.40)
- Arun Kumar, R., Vasantha, S. & Tayade, A. & Arun, Anusha & Ponnaiyan, Geetha & Hemaprabha, G..(2020). Physiological efficiency of sugarcane clones under water limited conditions. Transactions of the ASABE (American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers). 63. 133-140. (NAAS: 7.40)
- Gomathi, R., V. Krishnapriya, R .Arun Kumar, Govindaraj and Bakshi Ram. (2019) Physiological Traits Imparting Drought Stress Tolerance to Promising Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) Clones. Plant Physiology Reports. 25: 509-515 (NAAS: 7.50)
- Brindha C., Vasantha S., Arun kumar R Tayade A.S (2020). Characterization of the Salt Overly Sensitive pathway genes in sugarcane under salinity stress. Physiologia Plantarum. 171:677–687. (NAAS: 11.40)
- Meena, Mintu & Kumar, Ravinder & Ramaiyan, Karuppaiyan & Chhabra, Manohar & Arun kumar R & Mohanraj, K. & Kulshreshtha, Neeraj & Pandey, Shashi & Ram, Bakshi (2020). Biomass potential of novel interspecific and intergeneric hybrids of Saccharum grown in sub-tropical climates. Scientific reports. 10. 51:21560 (NAAS: 9.80)
- Manoj V M, & Pushpanathan, Anunanthini & Ts, Sarath & Dharshini, S. & Narayan, Ashwin &, Arun & Ramalingam, Sathishkumar & Karuppasamy, Sathyamoorthy & Subbiah, Ramanathan & Ram, Bakshi & Chinnaswamy, Appunu. (2020). Ectopic expression of DJ-1/PfpI domain containing Erianthus arundinaceus Glyoxalase III (EaGly III) enhances drought tolerance in sugarcane. Plant Cell Reports. 39: 1581-1594 (NAAS:11.30)
- Pooja D., Neeraj K., Ravinder Kumar., Arun K. Raja., K. Pandey., Vishal Goel., Bakshi Ram (2021). Identification of Drought-Tolerant Co-canes Based on Physiological Traits, Yield Attributes and Drought Tolerance Indices. Sugar Tech 23, 747–761 (NAAS: 7.8)
- Srinivasavedantham, V., Raja, A. K., Vengavasi, K., Tayade, A. S., Shareef, A., & Govindakurup, H. (2023). Sugarcane Stalk Traits for High Throughput Phenotyping in Restricted Irrigation Regimes. Sugar Tech, 1-9. (NAAS: 7.8)
- Dhansu P, Kumar R, Kumar A, Vengavasi K, Raja AK, Vasantha S, Meena MR, Kulshreshtha N, Pandey SK. (2022). Differential Physiological Traits, Ion Homeostasis and Cane Yield of Sub-Tropical Sugarcane Varieties in Response to Long-Term Salinity Stress. Sustainability. Oct 14;14(20):13246. (NAAS: 9.30)
- Mahadevaiah C, Vignesh P, Appunu C, Valarmathi R, Dhansu P, Kumar A, Dharshini S, Padmanabhan TS, Narayan JA, Selvamuthu K, Sreenivasa V. (2023) Physiological Characterization of Tripidium arundinaceum and Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) Germplasm for Salinity Stress Tolerance at the Formative Stage. Sustainability. Apr 20;15(8):6962. (NAAS: 9.30)
- Arun Kumar R, Vasantha S, Gomathi R, Hemaprabha G, Alarmelu S, Srinivasa V, Vengavasi K, Alagupalamuthirsolai M, Hari K, Palaniswami C, Moharaj K, Appunu C, Geetha P, Tayade AS, Anusha S, Vinu V, Valarmathi R, Pooja D, Meena MR. (2023). Rapid and non-destructive methodology for measuring canopy coverage at an early stage and its correlation with physiological and morphological traits and yield in sugarcane. Agriculture 13:1481. 10.3390/agriculture13081481. (NAAS: 9.3)
- Arun Kumar R, Hemaprabha G, Vasantha S, Arumuganathan T, Hari K, Senthilkumar T, Sadvatha RH, Ambrose DCP, Manikandan C, Lakshmi K, Suresha GS, Govindaraj P, Sreenivasa V, Palaniswami C, Gomathi R, Appunu C, Mahesh P, Yogambal C, Krishnapriya V, Tayade AS, Alagupalamuthirsolai M. (2023). Rapid assessment of rind hardness in sugarcane and its association with biochemical traits. International Journal of Environment and Climate Change 13(8):2019-2031. (NAAS: 5.13)
- Arun Kumar R, Vasantha S, Hemaprabha G, Alarmelu S, Mohanraj K, Sreenivasa V, Gomathi R, Palaniswami C, Krishnapriya V, Anusha S, Alagupalamuthirsolai M. (2023). Comparison of stalk volume by water displacement method and calculation method for stalk weight determination and its relevance to single cane weight in sugarcane clones. International Journal of Environment and Climate Change 13(8):2282-2291. (NAAS: 5.13)
- Narayan, J.A., Manoj, V.M., Nerkar, G., Chakravarthi, M., Dharshini, S., Subramonian, N., Premachandran, M.N., Valarmathi, R., Kumar, R.A., Gomathi, R. and Surendar, K.K., (2023). Transgenic sugarcane with higher levels of BRK1 showed improved drought tolerance. Plant Cell Reports, 42(10), pp.1611-1628. (NAAS: 11.30)
- Sreenivasa, V., C. Mahadevaiah, Mahadeva Swamy HK, Arun Kumar Raja, Mintu Ram Meena, C. Appunu, Ravinder Kumar, K. Mohanraj, P. Govindaraj, and G. Hemaprabha. (2024). “Deciphering biomass contributing traits of interspecific and intergeneric hybrids derived from early generations hybrids of Saccharum and Erianthus as potential sources of biomass and bioenergy.” Industrial Crops and Products 211: 118267. (NAAS: 11.90)
- Meena, M.R., Govindaraj, P., Kumar, R.A., Elayaraja, K., Appunu, C., Kumar, A.R., Chhabra, M.L., Kulshreshtha, N. and Hemaprabha, G., 2024. Biomass and energy potential of Erianthus arundinaceus and Saccharum spontaneum-derived novel sugarcane hybrids in rainfed environments. BMC Plant Biology, 24(1), p.198. . (NAAS: 11.30)
- Preet, Kumar, Pooja Dhansu, Nirmala Sehrawat, Ravinder Kumar, C. Appunu, Krishnapriya Vengavasi, Raja Arunkumar, Rohit Rana, Surender Kumar, and Vikas Joon. 2024. “Morpho-physiological analysis of salinity tolerance in sugarcane genotypes.” Plant Physiology Reports : 1-11. (NAAS: 7.50)
- Meena M.R., Alarmelu S., Vasantha S., Sheelamary S., Anusheela V., Kumar R.A., Kumar R., Chhabra M.L., Mutharasu S. and Karthick M. (2024). Drought resilience evaluation of sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) hybrids in Indian tropical and sub-tropical climates. Indian J. Genet. Plant Breed., 84(2): 266-272. (NAAS: 7.00)
- Alarmelu, S., Sheelamary, S., Anusheela, V., Kumar, R. A., Vasantha, S., Mahadeva Swamy, H. K., & Durai, A. A. (2025). Identification of Drought Tolerance Indicators in Interspecific Hybrid Derivatives of Saccharum spp Using Membership Function Value of Drought Tolerance (MFVD). Sugar Tech, 1-13. (NAAS: 7.80)
- Venkatarayappa, Sreenivasa, Mahadevaiah Channappa, Amaresh, Ravinder Kumar, Arun Kumar Raja, Mintu Ram Meena, Anna Durai Ayyadurai, Appunu Chinnaswamy, Hemaprabha Govindakurup, and Govindaraj Perumal. (2025). “Evaluation of saccharum and erianthus introgressed early generation novel sugarcane hybrids as potential sources of biomass for cogeneration.” Sugar Tech27: 158-172. (NAAS: 7.80)
Books:
- Gomathi R, Malathi P, Alarmelu S, Appunu C, Arun Kumar R, Alagupalamuthirsolai M, Krishnapriya V, Sreenivasa V, Solomon S, Rao GP, Hemaprabha G (2023) Proceedings of the National Seminar on Research Imperatives for Sustaining Sugarcane, Sugar and Ethanol Production (SugarSem-2023), 25 August 2023, ICAR-SBI, Coimbatore. p. 163. ISBN: 978-93-85267-40-6.
- Gomathi R, Alagupalamuthirsolai M, Arun Kumar R, Krishnapriya V, Balasubramanian S, Karuppaiyan R, Hemaprabha G (2023) High Throughput Sampling using Optical Properties (Understanding and Application). Plant Physiology section, ICAR-SBI, Coimbatore. p 120. ISBN: 978-93-85267-38-3.
- Gomathi R, Arun Kumar R, Krishnapriya V, Alagupalamuthirsolai M, Pooja D, Vasantha S (2023) Laboratory Techniques in Sugarcane Physiology. Plant Physiology section, ICAR-SBI, Coimbatore. p 123. ISBN: 978-93-85267-37-6.
Book chapters
- Appunu C, T. Manjunatha, A. Anna Durai, K. Mohanraj, G. Suresha and Arun Kumar. Bio-engineering of osmolytes production in plants: A novel approach to counter abiotic stress (2015). Challenges and Prospective of Plant Abiotic Stress (Volume 1) (eds. Ratna Kumar Pasala, Kiran Bhagat, Yogeshwar Singh. Today & Tomorrow’s Printers and Publishers, New Delhi – 110 002
- Kiran P. Bhagat, Arun Kumar, , Pasala Ratnakumar, Satish Kumar, S.K. Bal, and P.K. Agrawal (2014). Photosynthesis and Associated Aspects Under Abiotic Stresses Environment. In: Approaches to Plant Stress and their Management, Springer. 191-206 pp.
- Bhatt J.C., Arun kumar R., and J. Stanley (2015). Climate change and hill agriculture in North West Himalayas. “Climate Change Modelling, Planning and Policy for Agriculture”. Editors: Anil Kumar Singh, Jagdish Chander Dagar, Ayyanadar Arunachalam, Gopichandran R, Kirit Nanubhai Shelat ISBN: 978-81-322-2156-2 (Print) 978-81-322-2157-9. Springer. pp 167-178
- Vasantha and Arun kumar.R (2018). Adaptive responses of sugarcane to water deficit stress and technologies for water stress management. In: Abiotic stress management for sustainable agriculture book Edited by Jeyakumar, P., Kalarani M.K., Senthil. A., Ravichandran, V., Vijayalakshmi, D., and Boominathan P.Thanambikkai Publisher. P.no. 139-145.
- Arun Kumar R., Vasantha S., Pooja D., C. Appunu & Krishnapriya (2020). Temperature extremes in sugarcane: an overview. In: Management of Abiotic Stress in Crop Plants, Innovative Publication Gurumurthy S. & Senjam Jinus S. 127-138
- Arun Kumar, R., S. Vasantha., R. Gomathi., Pooja & V. Krishnapriya (2020) Physiological Adaptations for Drought, Salinity and Waterlogging Stress in Sugarcane. In. Physiological Interventions For Developing Climate Resilient Commercial Crops, Edited by R. Gomathi,
H. Prakhash & Bakshi Ram. International Books & Periodical Supply Service, (Publisher of Scientific Books), New Delhi ISBN No.:978-93-85267-27-7. Page No: 107-129 - Gomathi, R. R. Arun Kumar V. Krishnapriya, and M. Alagupalamuthirsolai. 2023. Abiotic Stress Management in Sugarcane. In. Advances in Sugarcane Cultivation Editors. T.Rajula Shanthy and G. Hemaprabha, Published by. ICAR-SBI, Coimbatore. Extension Publication 331(2023), 100-105.
- Gomathi, R., R. Arun Kumar V. Krishnapriya, and M. Alagupalamuthirsolai. 2023. Management of Post-Harvest Deuteriation and Flowering in Sugarcane. In: Improved Sugarcane Production Technologies. Editors. D. Puthira Prathap and P. Murali Published by G. Hemaprabha, The Director, ICAR-SBI, Coimbatore. 114-129.
- Arun Kumar R, Vasantha S, Tayade AS, Anusha S, Krishnapriya V, Sreenivasa V, Gomathi R, Palaniswami C and G. Hemaprabha G. 2023. Sugarcane clones for higher water productivity and yield sustainability under deficit irrigation. In: Wakchaure GC, AK Singh, Aliza Pradhan and K Sammi Reddy (Eds.) Climate Change & Abiotic Stresses Management Solutions for Enhancing Water Productivity, Production Quality and Doubling Farmers Income in Scarcity Zones. Training Manual, ICAR-National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management, Malegaon Kh, Baramati, Pune, Maharashtra, India. pp: 49-54.
- Arun Kumar R, Hemaprabha G, Anusha S, Krishnapriya V, Sreenivasa V, Vinu V, Vasantha S, Tayade AS, Alagupalamuthirsolai M, Pooja D, Gomathi R, Hari K, Appunu C, Palaniswami C. 2024. In: Climate Smart Sugarcane Agriculture for Food and Energy Security in India. G. Hemaprabha and C. Appunu (Eds.) Course Manual of ICAR sponsored Winter School. Jan 31 – Feb 20, 2024. ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore. ISBN: 978-93-85267-42-0; pp: 260-274








