About the Author
Dr Priyadarshan is a prominent Hevea rubber breeder. He began his research career by breeding triticale and wheat. During the 1980s he focused on the in vitro culture of spices. He joined the Rubber Research Institute of India (Rubber Board, Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of India) as a Plant Breeder in 1990 and specialized in breeding Hevea rubber for sub-optimal environments. In 2009, he became the Institute's Deputy Director, and managed its Central Experiment Station until 2016. As a scientist, he has been involved in breeding cereals, spices and Hevea rubber for the past 32 years. During that time, he has published several research papers and chapters in journals and books of international repute. He has authored articles for several important journals, e.g. Advances in Agronomy, Advances in Genetics, and Plant Breeding Reviews, and has edited books on Breeding Plantation Tree Crops, Breeding Major Food Staples, and the Genomicsof Tree Crops, as well as a book on the biology of Hevea rubber.
