DR. NIGAMANANDA SWAIN
Chief Scientific Advisor & Chairman
PhD in Agriculture Economics and has over 24 years of international and national experience with CGIAR, multinational donors, Indian state governments and corporate houses in formulating and managing agricultural research and upscaling projects in India, Afghanistan, and other countries in capacities of Country Manager, Senior Scientist and Team Leader. He managed projects involving multiple stakeholders during its implementation, upscaling of desired solutions, improved technologies and backstopping.
MR. SRIDHAR KUMAR DASH
Sr. Agriculture Advisor
Former Joint Director of Agriculture (Plan & Commercial Crops) and former Joint Director of Agriculture (Pulses & Oilseeds) in the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Govt of Odisha. He brings over 35 years’ experience in designing/managing projects/schemes e.g. Rice Fallow Management, Integrated Arhar Program, IFS, etc.
DR. DEVRAJ LENKA
Sr. Advisor - Participatory Varietal Evaluation
Former Professor & Head (Genetics & Plant Breeding) and Head (Seed Science & Tech) at OUAT with around 35 years of experience in education, research, trainings, and variety development and evaluation trials. He has released (and got notified) varieties of maize, linseed, rice, black gram, green gram, and finger millet to his credit.
MR. RAMACHANDRA NAYAK
Sr. Agriculture Advisor
Former Chief District Agriculture Officer with the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Govt of Odisha. He has over 35 years’ experience in the formulation and management of various schemes and district programs of Agriculture Department, Government of Odisha.
Dr. Pravu Charana Lenka
Sr. Advisor – Horticulture & Landscaping
Former Director (Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation) and retd Professor Horticulture at OUAT with around 35 years of experience in teaching, research, and extension activities. He has released cashew varieties for the state of Odisha, besides standardizing propagation techniques in horticultural and ornamental crops, fruit crops and forest species.
Dr. (Mrs.) Diptimayee Jena
Sr. Advisor – Food & Nutrition
Former Associate Professor & Head at Food and Nutrition College of OUAT with around 35 years of experience in teaching, research, trainings, and supervising food and nutrition programs and studies. Besides being a noted authority in nutritional quantification of crops, she is an expert in formulating and promoting value-added products.
Mr. Bipin Bihari Das
Sr. Advisor - Social Sciences,
An economist and a specialist in rural development planning. He has more than 30 years of experience in research, teaching, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of rural development projects in India and abroad. He has been associated with state governments, ministries, bilateral and multilateral international agencies.
Dr. Sreekanth Attaluri
Scientific Advisor - Research & Partnership
Has more than 22 years of experience in networking, donor relations,livelihood improvement and advocacy. Developed and strengthened country exchange programs on South and Central Asian crops,formulated agricultural development & market policies, digital agriculture, and business incubations. Held key positions e.g. GIFS (Global Institute for Food Security) Representative for Bangladesh, SAARC – Senior Program Specialist, CIP Bangladesh Interim Sector Leader, Scientist CIP – SWCA (South-West-Central Asia); J N Bose Memorial National Awardee (2010) and has several national and international science publications to his credit.
MR. PARTHA SARATHY ADHYA
Director - Corporate Services and Finance
An MBA in Finance and Marketing and PG Diploma in Planning and Management (pursuing PhD in Finance). Over 17 years of international and national experience in Budget Analysis, Financial, Administrative & Regional Program Management with CGIAR, multinational donors, Indian state govt and private sectors. Expertise in financial forecasting, budget compliance with full cost recovery, Strategic Sustainability, Grant/Risk Management, Quality Assurance, Gender, Diversity & Inclusion, and MEL; handled Cross-Country Research Exchange Program portfolios with NARS & international / domestic partners.
MR. CHANDRASEKHAR RAUTARAY
Social Development Manager & Managing Trustee
Master’s in Social Works (MSW), ex-Social Mobilization Expert in CGIAR; more than 20 years of experience in Formation and Capacity Building of Women Self Help Groups, Farmer Producer Organizations; formulating Business Plans and establishing Market Linkages; Social mobilization and handholding farmers for Crop Demonstrations and Seed Production programs; field implement innovative Community-based Initiatives for Self-help Processes through FGs, PGs and FPOs.
DR. (MRS.) REENA MEHRA
Associate Scientist - Crop Improvement and Seed Systems
PhD in Genetics, more than 10 years of international and national experience with CGIAR and ICAR institutions in varietal research & development, technology upscaling, conducting experiments, breeding, and evaluation of parental lines for crop improvement, climate resilient agriculture, and precision farming.
MR. GIRIJA SANKAR PRADHAN
SHG and Rural Enterprise Expert & Member Trustee
Bachelor in Humanities with more than 12 years of experience at the grassroots level, and specializes in community mobilization, cluster coordination, SHG formation, training and capacity building of farmers, and micro-enterprise development.