Friday
03
October 2025
4:00 - 5:30 PM IST
Location
Room 004, School of Arts and Sciences
Central Campus
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Role of Science and Technology in Enhancing the Sustainability in Agriculture and Afforestation
Arts and Sciences Lecture Series
Rakhi Chaturvedi
Senior Professor
Biosciences and Bioengineering (BSBE) Department
IIT Guwahati
Speaker
An important contribution of science is the revelation of unique property of plant cells, called “cellular totipotency”. It was predicted in 1902 by Gottlieb Haberlandt, and the first true plant tissue culture (PTC) on agar was established. Since then, techniques become popular among horticulturists, plant breeders and industrialists to understand basic aspects of plant growth and development. Principles involved in PTC are very simple, whereby an explant is freed from inter-organ, inter-tissue and inter-cellular interactions, and subjected to direct experimental control. Most popular commercial application of PTC is clonal propagation, popularly called micropropagation, to produce disease-free plants. The PTC offers many advantages over conventional methods of vegetative propagation. Here the rate of multiplication is extremely rapid and can continue round the year, independent of the seasons and regions. Thus, over a million plants can be produced in a year. The technique forms the backbone of modern approach to crop improvement.
Speaker
Rakhi Chaturvedi
Rakhi Chaturvedi is the senior Professor at Biosciences and Bioengineering (BSBE) Department, IIT Guwahati. She obtained her Bachelor and Master degrees from University of Allahabad, MPhil and PhD degrees from University of Delhi, and post-doctoral studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Professor Chaturvedi joined IIT Guwahati in the year 2004 and held important Academic and Administrative positions and contributed immensely to the research field of Plant Tissue Culture, Agrobiotechnology and Secondary Metabolite Production. She served as Chairperson GATE-JAM examinations, Dean of Alumni and External Relations, and Head of the BSBE Department, at IIT Guwahati.
She is the Visiting Professor at Gifu University, Japan, and recognised among top 75 Indian Women in STEAM by Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor, GoI and British High Commission, New Delhi. She is featured in top 75 Women in STEM at “Women in STEM Summit” by Confederation of Indian Industry. She is honoured with Distinguished Service Award” by Society of In Vitro Biology (SIVB), "Newton-Bhabha Leading Women Scientist Award” by DBT and “Prof. Y. S. Murty Gold Medal 2011” by Indian Botanical Society.
