I, Ashok Kumar, joined The University of the South Pacific (USP) in 2025. Prior to joining USP, I was associated with the School of Life Sciences and Technology at the IIMT University, Uttar Pradesh, India. Before that, I served as an Assistant Professor at the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. I received Ph.D. in Microbiology from Banaras Hindu University, Uttar Pradesh, India. My research focuses on soil microbiology, phytoremediation, plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, plant-soil-microbe interactions, sustainable agriculture, and soil fertility and health management. I am the author of over 30 refereed journal and proceedings papers, 15 of which have with high impact factor, one book and 15 book chapters related to the area of environmental microbiology. I have submitted 44 efficient plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria sequences in NCBI GenBank-2013. I have been working in the teaching profession for more than 9 years and have supervised 15 postgraduate students.

Undergraduate Courses:

BI102  – Plant Biology

Postgraduate Course:

BI408 – Advanced Environmental Microbiology

• Lifetime membership of the Asian PGPR Society of Sustainable Agriculture.

• Best Teacher Award, Academy for Environment and Life Sciences, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India 22 -02-2020 to 23-02-2020.
• “Observer Young Excellent Award” in Observer Award-2022 by Observer Piece Foundation, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, 02.10.2022.

• Ashok Kumar, Neha Kumari, Anjali Singh, Deepak Kumar,Dhirendra Kumar Yadav, Ashi Varshney, Navneet Sharma The Effect of Cadmium Tolerant Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria on Plant Growth Promotion and Phytoremediation: A Review. Current Microbiology, 80:153.
• Ashok Kumar, Sai Prakash Naroju, Neha Kumari, Shivani Arsey, Deepak Kumar, Dilasha Fulchand Gubre, Abhrajyoti Roychowdhury, Sachin Tyagi, Pankaj Saini, 2024. The Role of Drought Response Genes and Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria on Plant Growth Promotion under Sustainable Agriculture: A Review, Microbiological Research, 127827.
• Ashok Kumar, B.R. Maurya, R. Raghuwanshi, Vijay Singh Meena, Tofazzal Islam 2017.Co-inoculation with Enterobacter and rhizobacteria on yield and nutrient uptake by wheat (T. aestivum L.) in the alluvial soil under Indo-Gangetic Plain of India. Journal of Plant Growth Regulation, 36 (3): 608-617.
• Ashok Kumar, Bihari Ram Maurya, and Richa Raghuwanshi, 2021. The microbial consortium of indigenous rhizobacteria improves plant health, yield and nutrient content in wheat (Triticum aestivum). Journal of Plant Nutrition, 1532-4087.
• Jay Prakash Verma, Janardan Yadav, Kavindra Nath Tiwari and Ashok Kumar, 2013. Effect of indigenous Mesorhizobium and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria on yields and nutrients uptake of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under sustainable agriculture. Ecological Engineering, 51: 282– 286.
• Kumar A., Maurya B. R. and Richa Raghuwanshi, 2014. Isolation and Characterization of PGPR and their effect on growth, yield and Nutrient content in wheat (Triticum aestivum). Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology, 3:121-128.
• Vijay Singh Meena, Bihari Ram Maurya, Jai Prakash Verma, Abhinav Aeron, Ashok Kumar, Kangmin Kim, Vivek K. Bajpai Potassium solubilizing rhizobacteria (KSR): isolation, identification and K-release dynamics from waste mica. Ecological Engineering 81, 340–347.
• Madhumonti Saha, Bihari Ram Maurya, Vijay Singh Meena, Indra Bahadur and Ashok Kumar, 2016. Identification and characterization of potassium-solubilizing bacteria (KSB) from Indo-Gangetic Plains of India. Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology, 7:202-209.
• Indra Bahadur, Bihari Ram Maurya, Vijay Singh Meena, Madhumonti Saha, Ashok Kumar, Abhinav Aeron, 2016. Minerals release dynamics of tri-calcium phosphate (TCP) and waste muscovite (WM) by mineral-solubilizing rhizobacteria (MSRs) isolated from Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGPs) of India. Geomicrobiology, 34 (5): 454-466.
• Tyagi, S., Singh, R.K., Ashok Kumar, 2024. Lipophilic bioactive compounds from the thermophilic cyanobacterium Leptolyngbya sp. HNBGU-004: Implications for countering VRSA resistance. Heliyon 10 (8), e29754.
• Vijay Singh Meena,Sunita Kumari Meena, Jay Prakash Verma, Ashok Kumar, Abhinav Aeron, Pankaj Kumar Mishra, Jaideep Kumar Bisht, Arunava Pattanayaka, Muhammad Naveed, ML Dotaniya, 2017. Plant beneficial rhizospheric microorganism (PBRM) strategies to improve nutrients use efficiency: A review. Ecological Engineering 107: 8–32.
• Ashok Kumar, Patel J. S., Meena V. S., Ramteke P. W. 2019. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria: Strategies to improve abiotic stresses under sustainable agriculture. Journal of Plant Nutrition, 1402-1415.
• Ashok Kumar, Jai Singh Patel, Vijay Singh Meena, Rupanshee Srivastava, 2019. Recent advances of PGPR-based approaches for stress tolerance in plants for sustainable agriculture. Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology 20, 101271.
• Ashok Kumar, Itishree Behera, Mrinalini Langthasa, Sai Prakash Naroju 2022. Effect of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria on Alleviating Salinity Stress in Plants: A Review. Journal of Plant Nutrition, 2525-2550.
• Ashok Kumar, Deepak Kumar, Shivani Arsey, Dhirendra Kumar Yadav, Dilasha Fulchand Gubre, Sai Prakash Naroju & Pankaj Saini, 2025. Biochemical characterization and metabolic activities of salt-tolerant phosphate-solubilizing bacteria isolated from red soil. Cogent Food & Agriculture, 11 (1), 2472246.

• International conference of Management Sustainable Development of Rural Economy and Agri Business (ICONBHU), “Ensuring Food Security to all: The Role and Status of Women” held at Department of Economics, IAS, BHU, January 21-23, 2011.
• International conference on Mycology and Plant Pathology Biotechnological Approaches, “Efficacy of phosphate Solubilizing bacteria isolated from cropping systems of Jaunpur district of Eastern Uttar Pradesh” held on Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, BHU, February, 27-29, 2012.
• International conference on the 19^th World Congress on Clinical Nutrition, “Eco-friendly approaches to enhance yield and nutrient content in wheat in Eastern Uttar Pradesh of India” held on IMS, BHU, March 13-15, 2015.

Books:

• Ashok Kumar and Vijay Singh Meena, 2019. Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria for Agricultural Sustainability – From Theory to Practices. Springer Nature Singapore, ISBN No. 978-981-13-7552-1

Chapters:

• Ashok Kumar, Jai Singh Patel, Indra Bahadur and Vijay Singh Meena, 2016. Springer book entitled “Potassium Solubilizing Microorganisms for Sustainable Agriculture”, in this book, the chapter entitled “Molecular mechanisms of potassium solubilizing microorganisms and their effect for crop production under sustainable agriculture”. ISBN No. 978-81322-2776-2.
• Indra Bahadur, Bihari Ram Maurya, Ashok Kumar and Vijay Singh Meena, 2016. Springer book entitled “Potassium Solubilizing Microorganisms for Sustainable Agriculture”, in this book, the chapter entitled “Towards the soil sustainability and potassium solubilizing microorganisms”. ISBN No. 978-81322-2776-2.
• Vijay Singh Meena, B.R. Maurya, Sunita Kumari Meena, Rajesh Kumar Meena, Ashok Kumar, J.P. Verma, and N.P. Singh, 2016. Springer International Publishing book entitled “Bacilli and Agrobiotechnology”, in this book, the chapter entitled “Can Bacillus Species Enhance Nutrient Availability in Agricultural Soils?. DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-44409-3-16.
• Indu Bhushan, Ashok Kumar, Jai Singh Patel, R.P. Yadav, Sher Singh, Ramawatar Meena, Sunita Kumari Meena, and Vijay Singh Meena, 2018. Springer International Publishing book entitled “Conservation Agriculture”, in this book, the chapter entitled “The Indian Himalayan Ecosystem as Source for Survival”. DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-2558-7-14.
• Kumar A., Patel J.S. and Meena V.S., 2018. Springer International Publishing book chapter entitled “Rhizospheric Microbes for Sustainable Agriculture: An Overview”. In: Meena V. (eds) Role of Rhizospheric Microbes in Soil. Springer, Singapore, ISBN No. 978-981-10-8402-7.
• Ashok Kumar, Srishti Prajapati, Nikhil, Smriti Nandan, and Trisha Guha Neogi, 2019. Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 book chapter entitled “Industrially Important Pigments from Different Groups of Fungi”. In A. N. Yadav et al. (eds.), Recent Advancements in White Biotechnology through Fungi. Fungal Biology, DOI/10.1007/978-3-030-14846-1-10.
• Ashok Kumar, Savita Dewangan, Pramod Lawate, Indra Bahadur, and Srishti Prajapati, 2019. Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019 book chapter entitled “Zinc-Solubilizing Bacteria: A Boon for Sustainable Agriculture”. In R. Z. Sayyed et al. (eds.), Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria for Sustainable Stress Management, Microorganisms for Sustainability 12, DOI/10.1007/978-981-13-6536-2-8.
• Ashok Kumar, Vijay Singh Meena, Vandana, Renu Kumari and Pratiti Roy, 2019. Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019 book chapter entitled “Role of Rhizobia for Sustainable Agriculture: Lab to Land”. In Ashok Kumar and Vijay Singh Meena, “Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria for Agricultural Sustainability: From Theory to Practices”. ISBN: 978-981-13-7552-1.
• Indra Bahadur, Ragini Maurya, Pratiti Roy and Ashok Kumar, 2019. Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019 book chapter entitled “Potassium-Solubilizing Bacteria (KSB): A Microbial Tool for K-Solubility, Cycling, and Availability to Plants”. In Ashok Kumar and Vijay Singh Meena, “Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria for Agricultural Sustainability: From Theory to Practices”. ISBN: 978-981-13-7552-1.
• Ashok Kumar, Anjali Singh, Neha Kumari, Deepak Kumar, Dhirendra Kumar Yadav, 2023. Book chapter entitled “Diversity of various symbiotic associations between microbes and host plants”. In Parray et al., 2023, “Microbiome Drivers of Ecosystem Function”. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-19121-3.00004