Dr. Arvind Kumar Obtained PhD from Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (IGKV), Raipur- International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi in plant breeding, genetics and post-doctoral training from the International Rice Research Institute, Philippines on drought molecular breeding. Dr. Kumar carries with him more than 31 years’ experience in crop improvement, trait discovery for tolerance to drought, direct seeded rice, disease-insect resistance and translational research. He started his professional career with IGKV, Raipur and later moved to work with International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines and then with International Crops Research Institute for the semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad as its Deputy Director General-Research. Currently, Dr. Kumar is working with Delta Agrigenetics as its Vice-President, Global Research and Development.

Academic Research and Achievements: Dr. Kumar has developed 67 rice varieties under cultivation in 10 different countries of Asia and Africa including more than 20 varieties in cultivation in India. He identified 7 of the 10 known genes for resistance against rice gall midge (gm 3, Gm 4, Gm 5, Gm 7, Gm 8, Gm 9 and Gm 10),  14 stable QTLs for grain yield under drought (qDTY1.1, qDTY1.2, aDTY2.1, qDTY2.2, qDTY2.3, qDTY3.1, qDTY3.2, qDTY4.1, qDTY6.1, qDTY6.2, qDTY8.1, qDTY9.1, qDTY10.1, and qDTY12.1 and stable QTLs for rice grain yield related traits under dry direct seeded situation.   He has been the driving force of research on drought tolerance and direct seeded rice for water short rainfed areas of Asia and Africa. His work on developing crop varieties with better climate resilience using genomics and phenomics tools, training scholars and scientists to use the advanced technologies in breeding and working with seed system to enable quick access of seed of the newly developed varieties have benefited millions of farmers of more than ten countries including India.    He has published 211 research manuscripts, 34 book chapters, 5 books, possess 1 patent and 14 germplasm registrations.

Other contributions: AS Deputy Director General  for ICRISAT, Dr. Kumar guided ICRISAT research effeorts in Asia and Africa. He  developed research programs for drylands  for 2020-2024 and  established ICRISAT office in Odisha and Bihar. For IRRI, Dr. Kumar, established  IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC), Varanasi as its first Director and IRRI South Asia Hub, Hyderabad as its first head. At ISARC, he established  India's first rice speed breeding facility. Dr. Kumar supervised more than 33 scholars and Post-Doctoral Fellows, many of them have successful careers in agricultural research including some in the CGIAR system.

Awards and Honours: Dr. Kumar has been bestowed with several awards during his successful research career. These include- Honor from Government of Nepal for contribution to Agriculture in Nepal, Rafi Ahmad Kidwai Award, 2014 in Crop and Horticultural Sciences, Government of India, Fellow, National Academy of Agricultural  Sciences (FNAAS), Best Scientist Award of Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur, Young Scientist Award from Madhya Pradesh Council of Science & Technology (MPCOST), Madhya Pradesh, India and University Gold medal of Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur, India.