Horticulture

Dr. Raghavendra Porwal is a distinguished Professor of Horticulture at the College of Agriculture, Fatehpur Shekhawati, Sikar, Rajasthan, under Sri Karan Narendra Agriculture University, Jobner, with over three decades of academic, research, and extension experience in horticultural sciences. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in 1988, Master’s degree in 1991, and Ph.D. in 1997 from Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner, and qualified the National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by ASRB, New Delhi, in 1995. His M.Sc. research focused on the effect of nitrogen, phosphorus, and spacing on growth, yield, and quality of head lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) cv. Great Lakes, while his doctoral research investigated the influence of pruning severity, plant growth regulators, and nutrients on growth, flowering, yield, and quality of Damask rose (Rosa damascena), contributing significantly to floricultural production technology. Dr. Porwal’s areas of specialization include Floriculture and Olericulture, with focused research experience in crop production management, nutrient optimization, plant growth regulation, and quality enhancement of horticultural crops suited to arid and semi-arid ecosystems. He has authored and co-authored 22 research papers published in reputed national and international journals covering diverse areas such as seed spices, crop diversification, integrated pest management, fruit science, vegetable production, farmer participatory varietal selection, and technology gap assessment in oilseed and spice crops. In addition, he has published 10 technical and popular articles in Hindi for farmer outreach and contributed a book chapter on date palm production in the Thar Desert, demonstrating his commitment to bridging scientific research with grassroots agricultural development. He is a Founder Member of the Indian Society for Arid Horticulture, CIAH, Bikaner, and has actively participated in 14 national and international training programmes, refresher courses, winter schools, and seminars organized by premier agricultural institutions, focusing on plant health management, seed spice production technologies, water use efficiency, agricultural knowledge management, post-harvest value addition, and extension education. As a dedicated teacher and mentor, he has guided postgraduate students and contributed to both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in horticulture-fruit science. His professional excellence has been recognized through the “Diamond Achievers Award” in 2022 conferred at New Delhi by the Council for Academic Performance and Appraisal for outstanding academic contributions. Throughout his career, Dr. Porwal has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to quality education, impactful research, and effective extension services, contributing substantially to sustainable horticultural development, improved farmer livelihoods, and advancement of agricultural sciences in Rajasthan and beyond.