History

Heads of Dairy Microbiology Division, Karnal.

Dr KK Iya.

The first Dairy Microbiologist

Dr. A.T. Dudani
(1959-67)

Dr. H. Laxminarayan
(1967-71)

Dr. B. Ranganathan
(1971-78)

Dr. R.A. Srinivasan
(1978-81)

Dr. R.S. Singh
(1981-84)

Dr. D.N. Prasad
(1984-87; 1997-2001)

Dr. D.K. Mathur
(1987-90, 1995-97)

Dr. S. Neelkanthan
(1990-94)

Dr. R.N. Sinha
(1994-95)

Dr.V.K.Batish
(2002-2009)

Dr. Rameshwar Singh
(2010-2012)

Dr.Ravinder Kumar Malik
(2012-2014)

History of Dairy Microbiology Division

The research in Dairy Microbiology started way back in 1935 at Imperial Institute of Animal Husbandry and Dairying at Bangalore under the leadership of Dr. C.S.Ram Ayyar, who was essentially a chemist. He carried out some research on Methylene Blue Reduction test on milk and dahi cultures. Later, Dr. W. D. Davies who assumed the charge of Director in 1939 was very keen to strengthen research in Dairy Microbiology. Dr. K.K.Iya, the first Dairy Bacteriologist joined the institute at Bangalore as a Honorary Research Worker in 1939 for three months to study bacteriology of dahi under Dr. Ayyar. Thereafter, Dr Acharya joined the Institute as Research Dairy Bacteriologist in 1940, but unfortunately died prematurely at a young age. Meanwhile, Dr. H. Laxminarayana on his own persistent efforts transferred himself from the then comfortable position of P.A to Imperial Dairy Expert to start learning bacteriology and the main focus was on dahi since it was believed that dahi is related to microbial activity. Bangalore Dairy Institute was the only centre in India for dairy microbiology research and a systematic programme of research started functioning there only around 1949-50.

The research programme in Dairy Bacteriology at Karnal could start only after the National Dairy Research Institute was established in 1954-55 and the post of Dairy Bacteriologist (Head of Division) was transferred from Bangalore in 1955. The Division could really start its research programme in 1962 when facilities of staff, equipment and buildings became available to meet the needs of this Division. The first Head of Division was Dr. A.T. Dudani (1959-1967). Most of the young research workers in bacteriology Division at Bangalore obtained their Masters and Doctorate degree entirely by submitting a research thesis on a problem in Dairy Bacteriology. This led to collection of a fairly comprehensive volume of data on the different major groups of microflora in milk, their incidence under rural and urban conditions of milk production and handling source, their activities and influence on the keeping quality of milk and milk products and effect of dye reduction tests mainly Resazurin and tetrazolium etc. The work on starter cultures and dahi was intensified also.

After the Division of Dairy Bacteriology started functioning effectively at Karnal, a significant change in the research programme was brought about that involved studying the metabolic pathways of lactic acid bacteria involved in diacetyl production using radio-active isotopes, Freeze drying of lactic starters, bacterial and fungal enzymes for coagulation of milk for cheese making as rennet substitutes. The studies on Nisin production and bacterial genetics were also initiated. The various aspects of fundamental and applied aspects of dairy bacteriology were taken up for intensive research at Dairy Bacteriology Division, Karnal that developed into a full-fledged centre of research with active research scientists who had well equipped facilities and adequate financial support. Supporting organization ICAR contributed much to stimulate research in this important field.

Clean milk production, and dahi making were taken for investigations for the rural people. National Dairy Research Institute had the operational research programme to develop programmes of work that would benefit the rural people most. The work on H2O2 and its preservative action on milk was started. When this work was first started in 1950 or so, extremely encouraging results were obtained and by 1953-54, the Dairy Bacteriology Division at Bangalore was ready with recommendations for Government to approve the use of this method on a wide scale. However, there was great fear that the method would be misused by unscrupulous persons endangering the health of vast numbers of consumers. Even FAO did not take to the use of this method and in 1957 an FAO Expert group. Later, NDRI and NDDB jointly tackled this problem to use H2O2 for preserving milk at low cost without danger to consumers.

Later, Dr. H. Laxminarayana took over the charge of Head, Dairy Bacteriology in 1967 followed by Dr. B. Ranganathan in 1971 till 1978. The position of Head was started on rotation basis for a period of three years which was first taken up by Dr. R.A. Srinivasan (1978-1981) followed by Dr. R.S. Singh (1981-1984), Dr. D.N. Prasad (1984-1987), Dr. D.K. Mathur (1987-1990), Dr. S. Neelakanthan (1990-1994), Dr. R. N. Sinha (1994-1995) and again by Dr. D.K.Mathur for 1995-1997. The post of Head of Dairy Microbiology Division was advertised and selection was on the basis of interview and Dr. D. N. Prasad joined for a period of five years from 1997-2002. Dr. V. K. Batish took the charge of Head of DM Division in 2002 till 2009 followed by Dr. Rameshwar Singh (2010-2012) and Dr. R.K.Malik (2012-2014). Dr. Sunita Grover assumed the office of Head, Dairy Microbiology Division in August, 2014 and is continuing presently as Head. Under the dynamic leadership of all the stalwarts in Dairy Microbiology, division has made tremendous progress in the area of Dairy Microbiology starting from simple to advanced research including Molecular Biology and Biotechnology.

Dairy Microbiology Division contributed a lot in initiating Biotechnology research at NDRI. Biotechnology was initiated at NDRI, Karnal during mid eighties under a UNDP ‘Centre of Excellence on Biotechnology’ programme and strengthened by funding from Department of Biotechnology and National Agricultural Research Project-II. Drs. S. Neelakantan and V.K.Batish from Dairy Microbiology Division were entrusted with the responsibility to carry out research in the area of Dairy Processing Biotechnology and to initiate Masters in Animal Biotechnology at NDRI. Under this programme, Molecular Biology Unit was also established.

Dairy Microbiology Division was also entrusted with the responsibility of establishing National Referral Center on Milk Quality and Safety (NRCMQS) with financial support from World bank under NAIP project of 17.5 Crores in 2014 for addressing the scientific issues on milk safety in our country and quality assurance; to carry out Risk Profile on potential contaminants in milk and milk products; development of milk safety standards, sampling plan and testing procedures for regulatory compliance; Rapid Biosensor Based Tools/Assay/Kits for field application and to conduct training on HRD development on milk quality.