Prasanna Boddupalli, Ph.D

Dr Prasanna Boddupalli is CIMMYT Distinguished Scientist and Regional Director for Asia. He served as Director of CIMMYT Global Maize Program from 2010 t0 2024, and is internationally renowned for his contributions to the breeding and deployment of hundreds of high-yielding, climate-resilient and nutritionally enriched maize varieties for the rainfed, stress-prone tropical environments. The work led by Prasanna benefited millions of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America.

Prasanna also led the CGIAR Research Program on Maize Agrifood Systems during 2015-2021, fostering new partnerships, strengthening breeding and crop management, and sharing knowledge and best practices on a truly global scale. He has also been at the forefront in plant health management, leading the One CGIAR Plant Health Initiative during 2022 to 2024. He has been playing a critical role in effectively managing major plant health threats, such as maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease in eastern Africa, and the Fall Armyworm in Africa and Asia.

Prasanna’s research work has been published in over 240 journal articles in international journals of repute; he has a Google Scholar h-index of 73, and Scopus h-index of 58. He is a Fellow of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) since 2009, and also was awarded FAO Fellowship as a visiting scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, USA in 1998. Prasanna has received several awards for his outstanding contributions to maize genetics and breeding, sustainable and resilient seed systems, post-graduate teaching, and popularization of science. These include the prestigious Dr MS Swaminathan Award for Leadership in Agriculture by the Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS) in India (2024) and Magnolia Memorial Award of the Shanghai Government in China (2024).