ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It is by the lavish and boundless blessings of the Almighty God that I am able to
complete my studies successfully hitherto and present this humble piece of work, for which
I am eternally indebted. Writing this thesis was my life-long ambition, but would never
have been accomplished and brought to a favourable conclusion without the help of those
to whom I would express my heart-felt thanks. I owe this pride to the ideal of my life, my
beloved parents Shri. Krishna Kumar Bhargava and Smt. Pramila Sinha who always
believed in me and sacrifice themselves throughout their lives to make my dreams come true
and also strengthened me with their selfless love, affection and prayers.
It is a profound privilege to express my utmost gratitude and regards to my
esteemed teacher and chairperson of my major advisory committee, Dr. Sudheer Kumar
Rana, Principal Scientist cum SWO, Department of plant pathology for his inspiring
guidance, constant encouragement, valuable suggestions, logical and necessary criticism,
innovative ideas, indefatigable supervision throughout the course of this investigation
and preparation of manuscript which made this endeavor a complete success.
I empathically extend my deepest gratitude and thanks to the worthy members of my
advisory committee, Dr. Sachin Upmanyu (Scientist), Dr. (Mrs.) Vijay Rana (Principal
Scientist), Dr. Rajeev Rathour (Principal Scientist) and Dr. Sanjay Kumar Sharma
(Professor) for their valuable suggestions, encouragement and never ending cooperation
during the course of this investigation and manuscript preparation.
It is a great privilege for me to express my esteem and profound sense of gratitude to
Dr. D. K. Banyal (Chairman, Department of Plant Pathology) for his kind co-operation
and impeccable guidance during my study period. I would like to extend my sincere thanks
to all the teachers of the Department, Dr. A. K. Sud, Dr. Amar Singh, Dr. Deepika Sud
and Dr. Shikha Sharma for providing help, in one or the other way.
My special & heartiest thanks to Dr. Bipan Kumar Sharma (Principal Scientist,
RSS Akrot) for providing me every help during my field trial at Akrot. I also owe a sincere
gratitude to Dr. A. K. Basandarai and Dr. P. N. Sharma for providing me the additional
facilities to do molecular work of my investigation. Heartfelt thanks are also due to non-
teaching staff of the Department, Library and University for their cordial assistance and
timely help extended during the study.
I am also grateful to the University Grants Commission, GOI for providing
financial assistance by granting “National Fellowship for Other Backward Classes 2018-
19”.
I wish to record my thanks to all my UG and PG Professors for their consistent
inspiration, unyielding love, support and encouragement throughout my educational career.
I am also grateful to Dr. S. Kumar (Dean PGS) and Dr. S. P. Dixit (Director of
Research), CSK HPKV, Palampur for providing necessary facilities and encouragement to
perform my research work for degree programme.

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 I would like to give special thanks to Dr. H. K. Chaudhary, Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor,
CSK HPKV, Palampur (Himachal Pradesh) for providing all facilities during the course of
my investigation.
No word can express my ecstasy when I acknowledge at this juncture the pillars of
my strength at all my highs and lows, my family members. I am greatly beholden and
accolade my highest respects with deep sense of honour to my grandparents. I am over
whelmed with rejoice to avail this rare opportunity to evince my profound sense of
veneration and gratitude to my beloved brothers Er. Vishwajeet Kumar and Er. Satyajeet
Kumar; my lovely sister Priyanka Bhargwa and my brother in law Er. Mrityunjay Kumar
for their consistent inspiration, unyielding love, support, and encouragement throughout
my educational career. I am highly grateful to my lovely niece Vedika Someshwara and
nephew Vadik Someshwara who have come into my life as a harbinger of joy and
happiness.
I am getting short of words to express regards to my seniors Dr. Anju, Dr. Anila, Dr.
Shiwali, Dr. Naiya, Dr. Nidhi, Dr. Sabnam and Dr. Anudeep for their suggestions,
inspiration, co-operation and help. I feel great contentment to express my gratitude and
affection to my friends Dr. Shweta, Dr. Bharti, Dr. Dimple, Navdeep, Dr. Ashima,
Nivedhika , Dr. Monika, Dr. Ritesh, Deeplata and my lovely juniors Diksha, Abhilasha,
Khushwinder, Gurpreet, Vakul for their vital support and sparing their valuable time to
compile and complete my research document.
I also pay my thanks to all my UG and PG batchmates for their unending love,
support, understanding and encouragement during my research and study.
Last but not the least I would like to express my sincere thanks to my heartfelt
friends Lovely Kumari, Sujata Kumari, Pushpam Patel, Dr. Suraj Kumar and Pankaj
Kumar Maurya whose everlasting love, support, understanding and encouragement walked
with me like my soul during my entire research work.
I would like to thank all those people who made this thesis possible and an
unforgettable experience for me. I thank my friends and well-wishers whom I do not name
here due to paucity of space.
Needless to say, all omissions and errors present in the thesis are mine.
Place: Palampur
Dated: 2nd May, 2022 (Priya Bhargava)

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