Dr. Rohayu Ma’arup research focuses on developing crops cultivars that increase tolerances to abiotic and biotic factor without compromising the yield factor. This field of research required a detailed understanding of genetic diversity, physiology mechanism and application of plant breeding techniques for crop improvement. Development of crop improvement is necessary in response to climate changes that affects a variety of factors associated with drought and increasing salinity, especially in coastal area soil. Rice is one of the main crops that she focus on without compromising the other horticultural crops. Her past research experience are double haploid lines production, microspore culture, crossing and selection genotypes in multi-environment trials. Her latest research are; (1) Cytological effects of gamma radiation and its impact on morphological and physiological characteristics of micropropagated M1V1 and M1V2 plants of Vanilla planifolia, (2) Nutritional quality and variaetal improvement of Cucurbitacious vegetable crops through biofortification and reciprocal breeding; (3) Breeding For Salt And Drought Tolerance Of Hybrid Rice.

Dr. Sachin Rustgi is an Associate Professor of Molecular Breeding in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at Clemson University. He also serves as a Faculty Scholar at the Clemson University School of Health Research and the Center for Human Genetics, and as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Washington State University, Ch. Charan Singh University, and Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Science and Technology. His research focuses on developing dietary therapies for individuals with celiac disease or wheat and peanut allergies, identifying biomarkers for heat tolerance in soybeans and peanuts, and creating strategies to combat major insect pests and fungal pathogens affecting South Carolina crops. Dr. Rustgi has published extensively in leading international journals and has authored or edited three books. His academic excellence has been recognized with several honors, including the Faculty Excellence in Research Award from Washington State University, the See Fellow Award from the Society of Extension Education in India, and the Randall M. La Cross Distinguished Research Leadership Award from the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics.

Dr. Tom Poorten earned his Ph.D. in conservation genomics from the University of California, Berkeley, where he cultivated a passion for translating genomics research into tangible advances. He worked as a postdoctoral scientist at the UC Davis strawberry breeding program, assembling a draft octoploid genome and building bioinformatic pipelines to underpin gene discovery and marker-assisted strategies. Today, as a Senior Bioinformatics Scientist at Pairwise, Tom builds out genomic resources and bioinformatics tools for gene discovery, allele design, and vector design. His work supports the company’s CRISPR-based crop-editing platform and helps the gene-editing team accelerate the creation of improved crop varieties.

Dr. Hewan Demissie Degu holds a PhD in Bioresource Engineering with a robust academic foundation in molecular biology, genetics, and biochemistry. She serves as Associate Dean of Research and Technology Transfer at Hawassa University in Ethiopia. As a molecular scientist, she focuses on improving crops to enhance food security and nutrition.

She is involved in a five-year project focused on improving barley crop resilience to acid stress, utilising cutting-edge facilities for PCR, genomics, and genome editing. Her recent accomplishments include identifying five acid-tolerant barley lines, characterising numerous accessions, and mentoring a diverse cohort of master’s students in soil science and biotechnology. Dr. Degu also conducts practical training for farmers on selecting resilient barley varieties and managing soil pH, which is crucial for sustainable agriculture.

Dr. Saurabh Singh is currently working as a Teaching cum Research Associate at RLBCAU, Jhansi, India. He is the recipient of a Senior Scholarship for a Ph.D. degree programme at ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India. He has more than seven years of experience in Vegetable breeding. His main research interests are genetic improvement of vegetable crops using state-of-the-art techniques of genomics, molecular breeding, genome editing and doubled haploidy. Exploiting genetic mechanisms of sporophytic self-incompatibility and cytoplasmic male sterility for heterosis breeding are the main areas of expertise. He has also worked as a Junior Research Fellow at ICAR-IARI for one year under the SERB-DST project for developing novel CMS (cytoplasmic male sterility) systems in Brassica oleracea through protoplast fusion.

He has published various research/review papers in reputed peer-reviewed impact factor journals like PLOS ONE, Plant Reproduction, Euphytica, 3Biotech, Frontiers in Plant Science and other national peer-reviewed journals. He is credited with the publication of 7 book chapters with national and international publishers, 20 popular articles, and has edited three books as well with Springer Nature-Singapore. He is the recipient of Dr. B. R. Barwale Young Researcher Award in Horticultural Biotechnology for doctoral research by the Indian Academy of Horticultural Sciences (IAHS). He also received the young scientist award by Plantica-APSR, Dehradun and the best poster award at the international conference held at Bangkok, Thailand. He has also availed the International Travel Grant from SERB-DST, Government of India, to participate in the one-week IHC-2022 at Angers, France. He is a life member of national professional societies like the Indian Society of Vegetable Science (ISVS), Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) and an annual member of the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS), Belgium.

Rachel Magaya serves as the Chairperson of the Department of Horticulture at Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (MUAST) in Zimbabwe. Her focus is on advancing horticultural sciences and enhancing regional maize germplasm. Magaya actively supports engaging academic programs designed to develop highly skilled agricultural professionals. Currently, she is a doctoral candidate in Plant Breeding at MUAST, where she previously completed her Master’s degree. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Horticulture from the Women’s University in Africa.