Dr. Karthikeyan K

Dr. K. Karthikeyan, currently serving as Professor of Entomology at the Regional Agricultural Research Station, Pattambi, has more than 27 years of experience in agricultural entomology, integrated pest management (IPM), and rice pest research. He specializes in eco-friendly pest management, biological control, pheromone technology, and screening of resistant rice germplasm. Dr. Karthikeyan has developed several IPM modules for major rice pests, including stem borer, leaf folder, and blue beetle, contributing significantly to sustainable rice production systems in India. He has served as Principal Investigator for numerous nationally funded research projects in rice pest management and crop protection. His notable achievements include the identification of a new mealy bug species, Pseudococcus gilbertensis (Beardsley), in the Indian subcontinent and the first record of several pests infesting neem in India. He was also the first to identify and synthesize pheromone compounds for rice caseworm, Paraponyx stagnalis Zeller, in India. He actively contributes to research, scientific publications, and farmer-oriented training programmes on sustainable agriculture.