Dr M.R. Meena

Scientist Profile

Research interests and current focus

Breeding of Improved sugarcane varieties
DUS testing and characterization of sugarcane varieties
Germplasm evaluation under subtropical climates
Transcriptome approach in sugarcane for early maturity genes
Promotion of healthy breeder seed production under ICAR-Seed project and RKVY

Membership in professional societies

Life member of the Society for sugarcane research and development (SSRD)
Life member of the Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding (ISGPB)
Asian PGPR Society for Sustainable Agriculture

List of current external funded project

MOA/GOI, PPV&FR Authority funded project; C1-07/6.1.20. Identification, characterization and verification of new sugarcane varieties for DUS testing (from 2014 to 2025; Sanctioned amount till 2024-25: 72 lakhs (As-PI)
RKVY funded project: 1-22/6-1-23 Identification of climate resilient drought tolerant sugarcane varieties suitable for Haryana state (RKVY) sanctioned amount Rs 50 lakhs (As-PI)

Intellectual properties filed/granted

Patent Details

Quatro Sugarcane single bud cutter is a cost effective single budded sett cutting tool which begged design patent in the country “Design No. 297432″

Awards and honours

Awarded the ‘Young Researcher Award’ by the Society for Sugarcane Research and Development (SSRD) on 06.11. 2020 in the 9th annual general body meeting held at ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore.
Awarded “tang bursary international travel awards” 2019 by International Union for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) and PSBMB, Manila, Philippines for attending IUBMB 2019 international conference held at Manila, Philippines on Nov. 13-15, 2019.
Received the “Certificate of Appreciation” on 31 Dec 2020 from the Director, ICAR-SBI, Coimbatore for an extraordinary duty during the Covid period.
Received “Reviewer Excellence Award” by ARCC Journal as reviewer of Legume Research journal for significant contribution in reviewing of the articles during 2019.
Awarded first Prize by Nagar Rajbhasha Karyanyavan Samittee (Ministry of Home, Rajbhasha Department, GOI), at ICAR-NDRI, Karnal to the Hindi phamplet “Ganne ki unnat kismeh-01/2020” (2019-20) published by M. R. Meena, Ravinder Kumar, Bakshi Ram and SK Pandey.
Best Scientist Award – ICAR-SBI: ICAR-SBI Foundation Day award 2022 for the outstanding contribution at ICAR SBI, Coimbatore, under the scientific category of the institute during 2022.
Best Oral award: R. Meena, Ravinder Kumar, S. K. Pandey, M. L. Chhabra and D. Pooja has been awarded best short oral for the paper entitled Evaluation of ISH and IGH clones of Saccharum for drought tolerance in Sub-tropical climate by in the National Seminar on “Research Imperatives for Sustaining Sugarcane, Sugar and Ethanol Production” held on 25th August, 2023 at ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Received the “Scientist of the year award“ by Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (RVSKVV), Gwalior on 06.02.2024.
Best paper award: Research article “Genetic variability for fodder quality traits among high biomass energy cane feedstock under rainfed conditions” authored by R. Meena, P Govindaraj, Rajesh Kumar, R. Arun Kumar, Ravinder Kumar, M.L. Chhabra, S.K. Pandey and G. Hemaprabha published in the Journal of Sugarcane Research (JSR) Volume 12(1) adjudged as “Best Research Paper” in the year 2022.
STAI Silver Medal award awarded by the sugarcane technologist association of India (STAI). The award was announced and given during 80^th STAI Annual Convention and International Sugar Expo held at Goa during July 28-29, 2022.

Research Publications

Publications

Meena, M.R.; Mohanraj, K.; Kumar, R.; Kumar, R.A.; Chhabra, M.L.; Kulshreshtha, N.; Krishnappa, G.; Swamy, H.K.M.; Suganya, A.; Govindaraj, P.; et al. (2024) Deciphering Winter Sprouting Potential of Erianthus procerus derived Sugarcane Hybrids under Subtropical Climates. Plants, 13:1023. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13071023
Meena, M.R., Govindaraj, P., Kumar, R.A. et al. (2024). Biomass and energy potential of Erianthus arundinaceus and Saccharum spontaneum-derived novel sugarcane hybrids in rainfed environments. BMC Plant Biology 24:198 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-024-04885-0
Meena, M. R., Alarmelu, S., Vasantha, S., Sheelamary, S., Anusheela, V., Kumar, R. A., Kumar, R., Chhabra, M. , Mutharasu, S., & Karthick, M. . (2024). Drought resilience evaluation of sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) hybrids in Indian tropical and sub-tropical climates. Indian Journal of Genet. 84(02):266–272. https://doi.org/10.31742/ISGPB.84.2.15
Sreenivasa V, Mahadevaiah C., MahadevaSwamy H.K., ArunKumar R., M.R.Meena, Appunu C, Ravinder Kumar, Mohanraj K, Govindaraj P., Hemaprabha,G. (2024). Deciphering biomass contributing traits of interspecific and intergeneric hybrids derived from early generations hybrids of Saccharum and Erianthus Spp. as potential sources of biomass and bioenergy, Industrial Crops and Products, 211:118267
Meena, M.R*., Kumar, R., Karuppaiyan, R. et.al. (2024). Unraveling the Stability of Sugarcane Clones Using Multivariate Stability Models for Cane Yield and Quality Under Subtropical Climates. SugarTech, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-024-01442-9
Mintu Ram Meena*, Ravinder Kumar, R. Karuppaiyan, Amaresh, Bakshi Ram, et. al., (2024). Evaluation of popular sugarcane varieties for quality, yield and energy potential under subtropical climates. AMA, Agricultural Mechanization in Asia, Africa and Latin America, 55 (02): 17167-17174.
Chinnaswamy, A., Sakthivel, S.K., Channappa, M., Valarmathi, R., Suresh, G., Shivalingamuthry, Swathik, C.P., Kumar, R. Arun, K.R, Pooja, D., Meena, M.R., Gomathi, R. Boominathan, P. Manickavasagam, M., Arun, M. (2024). Overexpression of an NF-YB gene family member, EaNF-YB2, enhances drought tolerance in sugarcane (Saccharum Spp. Hybrid). BMC Plant Biol 24, 1246 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-024-05932-6
Kumar, R., Meena, M., Dhansu, P. et al. Disclosure of Productive and Stable Sugarcane Genotypes for Cane Yield and Quality Traits Using Various Stability Statistics. Tropical Plant Biol. 18, 11 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12042-024-09374-0
Arun Kumar R., Srinivasa V, Vasantha. R, Gomathi, G.Hemaprabha, Srinivasan Alarmelu, Venkatarayappa Srinivasa, Krishnapriya Vengavasi, Muthalagu Alagupalamuthirsolai, Kuppusamy Hari, Chinappagounder Palaniswami, Krishnasamy Mohanraj, Chinnaswamy Appunu, Ponnaiyan Geetha, Arjun Shaligram Tayade, Shareef Anusha, Vazhakkannadi Vinu, Ramanathan Valarmathi, Pooja Dhansu and Mintu Ram Meena (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(8):1481, https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/8/1481
Mintu Ram Meena, Ravinder Kumar, Karuppaiyan Ramaiyan, Manohar Lal Chhabra, Arun Kumar Raja, Mohanraj Krishnasamy, Neeraj Kulshreshtha, Shashi Kant Pandey and Bakshi Ram. Biomass potential of novel interspecific and intergeneric hybrids of Saccharum grown in sub-tropical climates. Scientific Reports 10, 21560 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-78329-8
Venkatarayappa, S., Channappa, M., Amaresh, Kumar, R., Kumar, A., Meena, M.R., et al. Evaluation of Saccharum and Erianthus Introgressed Early Generation Novel Sugarcane Hybrids as Potential Sources of Biomass for Cogeneration. Sugar Tech (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-024-01421-0
Meena, M.R., Kumar, R., Chinnaswamy, A. et al. Current breeding and genomic approaches to enhance the cane and sugar productivity under abiotic stress conditions. 3 Biotech 10, 440 (2020).
Meena, M.R.; Appunu, C.; Arun Kumar, R.; Manimekalai, R.; Vasantha, S.; Krishnappa, G.; Kumar, R.; Pandey, S.K.; Hemaprabha, G. Recent Advances in Sugarcane Genomics, Physiology, and Phenomics for Superior Agronomic Traits. Front. Genet. 2022, 13, 854936
M. R. Meena, R. Karuppiayan, Bakshi Ram, Ravinder Kumar and Neeraj Kulshreshtha (2017).Genotypes x environment interactions and stability analysis of sugarcane clones (Saccharum spp.) by AMMI model in sub-tropical region of India. Indian Journal of Genet. 77(4): 540-546.NAAS rating (2017) 6.28.
MS. Dharshini, Nam V. Hoang, C.Mahadevaiah, T.S.Sarath Padmanabhan, G.Alagarasan, G.S.Suresha, Ravinder Kumar, Mintu Ram Meena, Bakshi Ram, C.Appunu 2020. Root transcriptome analysis of Saccharum spontaneum uncovers key genes and pathways in response to low-temperature stress. Environmental and Experimental Botany. Vol. 171, March,2020,103935. :://doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2019.103935
Dharshini S, Chakravarthi M, V Dhandapani, GauriNerkar, A. Narayan Jayanarayanan, Mohanan VM, Naveenarani Murugan, Lovejot Kaur, Mahadevaiah Chennappa, Ravinder Kumar, Minturam Meena, Bakshi Ram, Appunu Chinnaswamy.(2018). Differential gene expression profiling through transcriptome approach of Saccharum spontaneum L. under low temperature stress reveals genes potentially involved in cold acclimation, Biotech 3, 8 (4):195.
Dharshini, S., Manoj, V.M., Suresha, G.S., Narayan, A.J., Padmanabhan, S.S.T., Kumar, R., Meena, M.R.., Manickavasagam, M., Ram, B., Appunu, C. (2020). Isolation and Characterization of Nuclear Localized Abiotic Stress Responsive Cold Regulated Gene 413 (SsCor413) from Saccharum spontaneum. Plant Mol Biol Rep https://doi.org/10.1007/s11105-020-01224-z
C. Appunu1, J. Ashwin Narayan, H. K. Mahadevaswamy, S. Karthigeyan, R. Valarmathi, C. Mahadevaiah, Ravinder Kumar, Mintu Ram Meena, Bakshi Ram (2020) Variability and molecular diversity of wild sugarcane germplasm collected from low temperature regions Lohit and Changlang of Arunachal Pradesh. Indian Journal of Biotechnology, Vol. 19, July 2020
SK Holkar, A Kumar, MR Meena, RJ Lal. (2017). Detection and partial molecular characterization of sugarcane mosaic virus infecting sugarcane genotypes. Journal of Environmental Biology, 38 (3), 409-417
Dharshini S, Chakravarthi M, Ashwin Narayan J, Manoj VM, Naveena Rani M, Ravinder Kumar, Meena MR, Bakshi Ram, Appunu C (2016) De novo sequencing and transcriptome analysis of a low temperature tolerant Saccharum spontaneum clone IND 00-1037. Journal of Biotechnology 231: 280–294.

NASS RATING BELOW 6

M.R. Meena*, R. Karuppiayan, Bakshi Ram, Ravinder Kumar and Neeraj Kulshreshtha (2018). Distinctness of candidate varieties of sugarcane using DUS descriptors. Bhartiya Krishi Anusandhan Patrika 33 (1&2):94-98.
Ravinder Kumar, MR Meena, Neeraj Kulshreshtha, Ashwani Kumar, Bakshi Ram (2017). Genotypic response of recently evolved sugarcane “Co” clones under different levels of saline irrigation water. Journal of Sugarcane Research 7(2): 159-168.
N Kulshreshtha, R Kumar, M R Meena, R Kumar et al (2019). Sugarcane Breeding for salt affected soils of subtropical India. Bhartiya Krishi Anusandhan Patrika, 34 (1):46-49.
Vishal Goyal, M. R. Meena, Sukhdev Kumar (2019). Effect of vinasse (spentwash) on quality of soil and sugarcane-A review. Quarterly Research Journal of Plant & Animal Sciences/Bhartiya Krishi Anusandhan Patrika 34(1); p38-41. 4p.
Bakshi Ram, R. Karuppaiyan, Mintu Ram Meena, Ravinder Kumar, Neeraj Kulshreshtha, G. Hemaprabha, M.L. Chhabra, B. Parameswari and S.K. Pandey (2019). Co 12029 (Karan 13) A new midlate sugarcane variety released for commercial cultivation in north west zone of India. Journal of Sugarcane Research. 9 (2): 196-198.http://doi.org/10.37580/JSR.2019.2.9.196-198
Bisht Rashmi, Jeena A.S., Meena M.R., Koujalagi Deepak, Singh S.P., Khan K.A. (2017).Genetic diversity assessment among early generation sugarcane (Sacccharum officinarum L.) clones through microsatellite markers. Applied Biological Research. 19 (3): 315-323.
Bakshi Ram, R. Karuppaiyan, Ravinder Kumar, M.R. Meena, G. Hemaprabha, R. Viswanathan, M. L. Chhabra and B. Parameswari (2017) Co 09022 (Karan 12): a new midlate sugarcane variety for NWZ of India. Journal of Sugarcane Research, 7 (1) : 70
Bakshi Ram, R Karuppiyan, Mintu Ram Meena, Ravinder Kumar, Neeraj Kulshreshta (2017). Winter sprouting index of sugarcane genotypes is a measure of winter ratooning ability. International Journal of Development Research 7(9):15385-15391 (IF (7.02)

Books or Chapter Published

M R Meena* R. Karuppiyan and Bakshi Ram (2017). Rights and benefit sharing under PPV&FR Act (Book Chapter) IP Protection and technology transfer in Indian perspective by ICAR & NBAGR, Karnal (ISSN.978-93-83537-31-0) Pp 125-132.
M R Meena*, Ravinder Kumar, R. Karuppaiyan, B. Parameswari and Bakshi Ram (2017). Procedure for filling application for registration of varieties under PPV&FR Act (Book Chapter) IP Protection and technology transfer in Indian perspective by ICAR-NBAGR, Karnal (ISSN:978-93-83537-31-0) Pp 133-151.
Lakshmi K, Appunu C, Kumar, R., Meena MR and Yadav DK. Transgenic approaches for biotic stress tolerance in plants. (2021) In: Recent Advances in Plant Stress Physiology (eds. Dr. Praduman Yadav, Dr. Sunil Kumar, Dr. Veena Jain). Astral International Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi – 110 002. Pp. 1-539.
Choudhary, S., Jain, D., Meena, M.R., Verma, A.K. and Sharma, R. Gene Silencing in Horticultural Transgenic Crops. In: Rout, G.R., Peter, K.V. (Eds.), Genetic Engineering of Horticultural. (Book chapter, 2018) Crops. Academic Press, Elsevier pp. 47–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-810439-2.00003-9
Lovejot Kaur, R.Meena, Ravinder Kumar, C. Appunu and Neeraj Kulshreshtha. (2021). Molecular approaches for improving abiotic stress tolerance in sugarcane. Publisher- Elsevier, Editor- Shankar, et al.-Climate Change and Crop Stress.pp:1-525(ISBN-9780128160916).
Meena, M.R. et al. (2022). Impact of Salinity Stress on Sugarcane Yield and Quality: Management Approaches for Higher Cane Sugar Productivity. In: Verma, K.K., Song, XP., Rajput, V.D., Solomon, S., Li, YR., Rao, G.P. (eds) Agro-industrial Perspectives on Sugarcane Production under Environmental Stress. Springer, Singapore. Pp. 39-56. ISBN: 978-981-19-3954-9 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3955-6_3.
Govindaraj, M. R. Meena, Ravinder Kumar, Neha Patwa, K. Elayaraja, Amaresh, and V. Sreenivasa (2024). Powering Tomorrow: Advancements in Energycane Breeding for Sustainable Bioenergy Solutions. In G. S. Suresha et al. (eds.), Value Addition and Product Diversifcation in Sugarcane, Springer, Singapore. pp. 311-322. ISBN 978-981-97-7227-8 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-7228-5_16