Professional profiles and photographs of the scientific staff of ICAR–Directorate of Mushroom Research, Solan.
Director (Acting)
Dr. Brij Lal Attri obtained his B.Sc. (Agri.) and M.Sc. (Hort.) from HPKV, Palampur, and UHF, Solan, in 1987 and 1990, respectively. He completed his Ph.D. from IARI, New Delhi, in 1994. He joined ARS as Scientist (Hort.) at ICAR-CARI, Port Blair, in 1995, then served at ICAR-CIWA, Bhubaneswar, and ICAR-CITH-RS, Mukteshwar. He joined ICAR-DMR, Solan, on 12 February 2016 and became Director (Acting) with effect from 1 November 2025.
Principal Scientist
Dr. Satish Kumar obtained his Ph.D. in Agricultural Entomology from Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishva Vidyalaya, Palampur, in 1996. In the same year, he joined the Agricultural Research Services of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and joined NRCM, Solan. For his significant contribution to mushroom research, he was awarded the Fellowship of the Mushroom Society of India.
Principal Scientist
Dr. Shwet Kamal obtained his Ph.D. in mushroom science from L.N. Mithila University, Darbhanga, in 2001. He worked as a Research Associate at IHBT (CSIR), Palampur, and NRC for Mushroom, Solan, before joining Amity University as a lecturer. He received a MIUR fellowship in Italy and worked as a guest researcher at the University of Torino. He joined ICAR-DMR as Senior Scientist on 16 March 2010.
Senior Scientist
Dr. Anil Kumar obtained his B.Sc. (Horticulture) in 2005, M.Sc. in Mycology and Plant Pathology in 2008, and Ph.D. in the same discipline in 2011 from Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan. He joined ICAR as Scientist (Plant Pathology) at ICAR-Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture, Regional Station, Mukteshwar, in 2011. He joined ICAR-DMR, Solan, on transfer on 12 June 2017. His awards include the Bharat Gaurav Award and Rashtriya Gaurav Award.
Senior Scientist
Dr. Manoj Nath obtained his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, in 2004 and 2010, respectively, in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. He worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi. He also served as Assistant Professor at Amity University, Uttar Pradesh. He received the Early Career Research Award (DST-SERB) in 2017 and joined ICAR-DMR on 8 October 2018.
Senior Scientist
Dr. Pramesh Devanna is a Senior Scientist (Plant Pathology) at the Crop Protection Laboratory, ICAR-DMR, Solan. He obtained his B.Sc. (Agri.) from UAS Bangalore and M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from ICAR-IARI, New Delhi, and was a Visiting Scientist at North Carolina State University in 2022. His work has covered plant disease resistance, pathogenomics, diagnostics and disease management, including rice pathology. At ICAR-DMR, he works on strain improvement in Shiitake, Ganoderma and Auricularia mushrooms. The institute page notes over 120 peer-reviewed publications, six patents, and several research awards.
Senior Scientist
Dr. Anuradha Srivastava obtained her B.Sc. (Agriculture) and M.Sc. (Food Technology) from Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, in 2007 and 2009. She completed her Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology from Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, in 2015 with an ICAR Senior Research Fellowship. She joined ICAR as Scientist (Food Technology) at ICAR-Research Complex for Eastern Region, Ranchi, and later joined ICAR-DMR, Solan, on transfer.
Scientist
Dr. Reetu obtained her B.Sc. (Medical) in 2010 from Pandit Sant Ram Government Degree College, Baijnath, and her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishva Vidyalaya, Palampur, in 2012 and 2018. She joined ICAR as Scientist (Plant Biochemistry) at ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi, in 2016, and later served at ICAR-Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi. She joined ICAR-DMR, Solan, on transfer on 24 March 2023.
Scientist
Dr. Anarase Dattatray Arjun obtained his B.Tech. in Agricultural Engineering in 2011 from Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapith, Rahuri, Maharashtra. He received his M.Tech. in Processing and Food Engineering from CCS HAU, Hisar, in 2014 and his Ph.D. in Agricultural Process Engineering from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, in 2018. He joined ICAR-DMR, Solan, on 4 April 2020 in Agricultural Structure and Process Engineering.
Scientist
Dr. Shweta Bijla completed her B.Sc. (Agri.) Honours at Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur, in 2015 and her M.Sc. in Agricultural Economics at ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, in 2017. Selected through ARS 2017, she joined ICAR-DMR, Solan, as Scientist in Agricultural Economics on 12 January 2021. She received the UGC Junior Research Fellowship in 2018 and the R.T. Doshi Award for Best Paper in 2018.
Scientist
Dr. Jagdish Goyanka obtained his B.Sc. in Agriculture in 2013 from Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur. He received his M.Sc. in Economic Botany and Plant Genetic Resources in 2015 and Ph.D. in the same subject in 2021 from IARI, New Delhi. He joined ICAR-DMR, Solan, as Scientist on 21 July 2023.
Scientist
Dr. Manisha Negi completed her B.Sc. in Agriculture at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, with an ICAR undergraduate scholarship. She completed her M.Sc. in Soil Science at Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, with an ICAR Junior Research Fellowship, and obtained her Ph.D. in Soil Science in 2023. She received the Excellence in Academics Award from the Governor of Himachal Pradesh during her Ph.D. She joined ICAR-DMR, Solan, as Scientist (Soil Science) on 27 October 2025.
