Dr. B.N.S Murthy
Dr. B. N. S. Murthy
Horticulture Commissioner
Department of Agriculture,
Cooperation & Farmers Welfare
Contact: 9844199755 (M)
Email : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Completed his undergraduate and post graduate degrees from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore and obtained Ph.D. from University of Guelph, Canada as Commonwealth Scholar. He is the recipient of University Gold medals for his outstanding performance in all the three levels.
He took over as the commissioner of Horticulture, Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers Welfare in the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India on 29th May 2017 and holding the additional charge of Chairman, Coconut Development Board, GOI. Member secretaries of National Bee Board, National Committee on Plasticulture Applications in Horticulture (NCPAH). Before this assignment he was Head of the Division of Fruit Crops, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta, Bengaluru.
In his professional career developed and released 8 grape hybrids, 3 pomegranate hybrids, 1 strawberry and 2 passion fruit hybrids some of them are popular in farmer’s field. Introduced over 200 genotypes of pomegranate from USDA and developed pomegranate germplasm block at IIHR with over 350 accessions. He Perfected technology for Soil-less culture and verti-grow system for strawberry for peri-urban horticulture. Published over 80 research articles in peer reviewed national and international journals, over 30 popular articles, Technical bulletins, and book chapters. Guided over 20 MSc and Ph.D. students, Thought several post graduate courses and was invited / lead speaker at several national and international conferences / seminars. He himself organized several national and state conferences, farmer’s interaction meetings. Organized group of farmers for to promote cultivation and export fruit crops like pomegranate, grapes and mango. Being tech savvy, introduced drone based services at the Institute and to his credit he has also developed mobile apps on crops like pomegranate and custard apple.
Recipient of Aryabhata award, Fellow of Society for Advancement of Research on Pomegranate (SARP), Solapur, Commonwealth Scholar of Canadian Commonwealth Association, Canada, over 15 different scholarships from University of Guelph including Arthur Richmond Memorial Scholarship, University of Guelph Graduate Scholarship, The Mary Edmunds Williams scholarship, Hoskins Scholarship, Mrs. Fred Ball Scholarship.
In the capacity of Vice President / Secretary of the Residential Welfare Association-RMV-II Stage, Bengaluru developed and looked after community garden, introduced solid waste management system with proper segregation of the garbage, produced video and educated the residents in keeping the surrounding areas clean and tidy.