Department of Agricultural Microbiology

Currently, the Department offers courses to undergraduate students across different degree programmes as per the recommendations of the VI Deans’ Committee. In B.Sc. (Hons.) Agriculture, the Department offers Agricultural Microbiology and Phyto remediation, along with Skill Enhancement Courses in Bio fertilizer and Bio pesticide Production and Mushroom Production Technology, and contributes to Bio-formulations and Nano-formulations.In B.Sc. (Hons.) Agri-Business Management, it offers Production Technology for Bio-agents and Bio fertilizer, while in B.Sc. (Hons.)Food, Nutrition and Dietetics, it offers Hygiene Management in Food Service Units and Food Microbiology. These courses provide students with theoretical knowledge and hands-on training in agricultural and food microbiology.
At the postgraduate level, the Department offers a comprehensive Master’s programme in Microbiology, covering core and applied areas such asTechniques in Microbiology, Principles of Microbiology, Microbial Physiology and Metabolism, Microbial Genetics, Soil Microbiology, Food Microbiology, Bacteriophages, Environmental Microbiology, Industrial Microbiology, Biofertilizer Technology, and Cyanobacterial and Algal Biotechnology. The programme also includescommon courses in Technical Writing and Communication Skills, Basic Concepts in Laboratory Techniques, and Agricultural Research Ethics and Rural Development Programmes.
At the doctoral level, specialized courses are offered in advanced areas of Agricultural Microbiology, including Improvements in Fermentation Technology, Microbial Physiology and Regulation, Recent Developments in Soil Microbiology, Recent Approaches in Environmental Microbiology, Plant-Microbe Interactions, Microorganisms in Biofuel and Bioenergy Production, Microbial Management of Organic Wastes and Xenobiotics, and Antibiotics in Agriculture and Allied Fields.
The department organizes summer and winter schools, seminars, conferences, workshops on different thematic areas for the benefit of scientists and research scholars. Further, training programmes are being conducted at regular intervals for officials of the state department of agriculture, farmers and junior level researchers.

Facilities Available

Being a DST-FIST funded Department, the laboratories of the Department have been equipped with state-of-the-artequipments such as HPLC, Fluid Bed Reactor, Fermenters,PCRs, Gel documentation units for conducting research in major thrust areas of research including Food Fermentation, Microbial Phylogeny, Biotechnology of Mushroom, Microbial and Industrial Biotechnology. In addition, a Cold room facility has been created for Post Graduate and faculty research. The Department houses adequate number of computers with round the clock internet facility for students and faculty.
The Department has a biofertilizer production unit along with a quality control lab funded by the Govt. of Karnataka which produces quality bio-inoculants such as Rhizobium, Azospirillum, Azotobacter, phosphate solubilizers, organic matter decomposers and biocontrol agents such as Trichoderma sp. and Pseudomonas fluorescens and different species of Azolla for large scale supply to local farmers.
Most of the faculty have been trained in cutting edge area of research including microbial phylogeny, mushroom cultivation and biotechnology, plant – microbe interactions, biocontrolof phytopathogens, mycorrhizal research, food conversion technology, food fermentations and processing, organic matter decomposition etc., and train the students in their respective areas of specialization.
Availing these laboratory facilities and expertise of the faculty, 577 M.Sc. (Ag.) students and 200 Ph.D. students have graduated from this Department and they have been placed at the premier research and development organizations in India and universities and organizations of international repute.

Dr.N Umashankar
Professor & Head &amp University Head
Department of Agricultural Microbiology
UAS,GKVK,
Bangalore-560065

Faculty