Education: B.Sc.(Hons.) PAU, Ludhiana (1985); M.Sc.(Hons.) Biochemistry, PAU, Ludhiana (1987); Ph.D., PAU, Ludhiana (1997)

Positions held: Assistant Biochemist, Regional Rice Research Station, Kapurthala (May,1999 – Dec. 2003) and PAU Ludhiana (Dec. 2003-May 2008), Biochemist (May 2008- May 2014), Principal Biochemist (Rice)(May 2014 to date)

Field of Specialization: Plant Biochemistry, Rice Grain Quality

Research Interests: (Maximum up to three areas of interest)

1. Evaluation and identification of aromatic and high-yielding non-aromatic rice genotypes for milling, physico-chemical and cooking quality characters.
2. Nutritional and biochemical properties of rice and rice bran.
3. Studies on the effect of various biotic (bacterial and fungal diseases and pests) and abiotic ( temperature, water and salinity) stresses on biochemical and physiological characters in rice.

Reserarch Projects:

Addressing food security through nutritionally enriched improved cultivars and technologies for Swasth Bharat, under PURSE programme 2017 DST, New Delhi CSS-44 (PC-6247)

Selected Research Publications (maximum upto 5):

1. Kaur, R., Kaur, R., Sharma, N., Kumari, N., Khanna, R. and Singh, G. (2022). Protein profiling in a set of wild rice species and rice cultivars: a stepping stone to protein quality improvement. Cereal Research Communications https://doi.org/10.1007/s42976-022-00273-2 (NAAS rating: 6.85)
2. Sandhu R K, Sarao P S and Sharma N (2020). Antibiosis in wild rice accessions induced by Nilaparvata lugens (Stal) feeding. Phytoparasitica DOI: 10.1007/s12600-020-00835-2. 48: 801-812 (NAAS rating: 7.02)
3. Dhillon Amandeep, Neerja Sharma, Navkiran K. Dosanjh, Meenakshi Goyal and Gulshan Mahajan. 2018. Variation in the nutritional quality of rice straw and grain in response to different nitrogen levels. Journal of Plant Nutrition DOI:10.1080/01904167.2018.1482915. 41: 1946-1956 (NAAS rating: 6.62)
4. Pal R, G. Mahajan, V. Sardana, N. Sharma, B. S. Chauhan. 2018. Grain Quality of Dry Seeded Rice in Response to Sowing Dates and Genotypes. International Journal of Plant Production 10.1007/s42106-018-0010-6. 12: 95 - 106 Published online: 30 April 2018. (NAAS rating: 7.07)
5. Mahajan G, N. Sharma, R. Kaur, and B. S. Chauhan. 2015. Comparison of photoperiod-sensitive and photoperiod-insensitive basmati cultivars for grain yield, water productivity, and quality traits under varied transplanting dates in Northwest India. Crop & Pasture Science 66: 793-801. (NAAS rating: 7.48)

Awards/Honours/Distinctions: (Exclude best poster/paper presentations, Appreciation letters etc.)

• Fellow of the Indian Society of Agricultural Biochemists.