Dr. Shivani Darmagaru is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding at College of Agriculture, Kaveri University since 2024. She completed her Ph.D. in Genetics and Plant Breeding from Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU), Hyderabad, in 2021.
Dr. Darmagaru’s research focus is on Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) and Biofortification in rice, aiming to enhance the nutritional and agronomic quality of the crop. She has received numerous accolades, including the prestigious Mandava Venkataramaiah Gold Medal for the highest OGPA in M.Sc. (Ag.), Sri Rajaram Vengaldas Memorial Gold Medal for Plant Pathology, Sri Alapati Venkata Subbaiah Memorial Silver Medal for Crop Protection and Sri Mudnuri Suri Raju Silver Medal for Horticulture during her graduation studies. She has secured first rank in the PG entrance exam conducted by PJTSAU in 2016.
Her academic achievements extend to qualifying competitive exams like ASRB-NET and securing first rank in entrance exams held by ANGRAU and OUAT for the doctoral program in 2018. Dr. Darmagaru was awarded the DST INSPIRE Fellowship during her Ph.D. and has been recognized for her research with the Best Poster Presentation Award at the 6th National Youth Convention at PJTSAU. In addition, she served as an ambassador for AGRIPCAE 2017 and has authored several research articles including popular articles published in renowned journals.
Dr. Darmagaru has also been associated with the development of high-yielding aerobic rice variety, DRR Dhan 77, under ICAR-IIRR, advancing agricultural innovation. She was also involved in the preparation of the Compendium of Rice Genetic Stocks Registered in India, a project under ICAR-IIRR, and is a contributor to the book Coloured Rices in India published by ICAR-IIRR.
Kaveri University was established as per the Telangana Private Universities (Establishment & Regulation) Act, 2018 under section 3.