Ram Khadka

Scientist – Plant Virology

Headquarters

Education
PhD, The Ohio State University

Research interests
Vegetable Virology

Biography
Ram B. Khadka (Nepal) joined the World Vegetable Center in November 2025. After completing his M.S. degree from Tribhuvan University, he began his career with the EU-funded Food Security Project in Far-Western Nepal, where he worked closely with farmers to introduce and promote rice intensification techniques.

In 2012, he was appointed as a Research Scientist at the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC). Four years later, he took a sabbatical to pursue a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology at The Ohio State University (OSU), completing his degree in 2021. During his Ph.D., he received two prestigious grants: the USDA–North Central Regional Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (USDA-NC-SARE) Graduate Student Grant and the Storkan-Hanes-McCaslin Foundation Award. He was also selected as a U.S. Borlaug Summer Institute for Food Security Student Delegate (2018) and received the OSU Presidential Fellowship (2019). In recognition of his outstanding research and service, he was honored with the 2020 C.C. Allison Award by the OSU Department of Plant Pathology.

After completing his Ph.D., Ram resumed his position in NARC in 2021 at the National Plant Pathology Research Center, Kathmandu, where he led Nepal’s national plant virus research program, focusing on enhancing capacity in disease diagnostics, early warning, forecasting, and integrated disease management. He successfully completed two major projects: the ACIAR-funded “Lentil Virus Survey Project” (2024–2025) and the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture project on “Mitigating soilborne diseases to improve smallholder farmers’ livelihoods and food security in Nepal”, serving as Principal Investigator under NARC.

In recognition of his remarkable contributions to agricultural science, Ram received the National Science, Technology and Innovation Award-2023 from the Government of Nepal.

At the World Vegetable Center Headquarters, Ram serves as a Scientist (Virology), where he will lead vegetable virology R&D activities to strengthen global vegetable production systems.