About me
My current research in the project “Disused wood material into circulation (PUMASKA)”, implemented within the framework of the National Green Transition Coordination Project and co-funded by the European Union, investigates the suitability of using waste wood from households, demolition, construction, etc. as part of growing media and supports circular economy approaches in horticulture. In addition, I am investigating the potential of residual microalgal biomass from fermentation as a biostimulant in peat-free growing media. Through this research, I am particularly interested in understanding the metabolic and functional changes of microbes over time in peat-free growing media, as well as the improvement of plant growth due to changes in growing media composition compared to peat-based cultivation.
My academic background is in microbial technology, where my PhD research was conducted between 2014 and 2018. During this time, I gained experience in various microbial systems in agriculture, especially arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), plant-microbe interactions and their role in improving plant performance under field conditions. The experience gained in AMF research largely covers several experimental systems, including field studies on the combined use of AMF and rhizobacteria, especially ACC deaminase producers, under rainfed agricultural conditions in the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand. I have practical experience in AMF cultivation from single spore and culture maintenance using in vitro systems, as well as in vivo trap culture techniques and industrial scale mass amplification techniques.
You can contact me on the following topics: Sustainable and peat-free growing media; circular bioeconomy in horticulture; use of organic side streams and waste-derived materials in cultivation; composting ; arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant-microbe interactions; biofertilizers and biostimulants; soil and substrate microbiology; sustainable greenhouse cultivation; organic and natural farming systems; organic agriculture preparations; research collaboration related to resource-efficient and climate-resilient crop production.
