Dr. Elain Apshara, S. is working as Principal Scientist (Horticulture) at ICAR- Central Plantation Crops Research Institute- CPCRI, Regional Station, Vittal in Karnataka State of South India, which is the National Active Germplasm Site (NAGS) and DUS centre for cocoa. She is into cocoa research through genetic resources management and breeding from 2000 onwards, involving in collection, conservation, cataloguing, characterisation and evaluation of cocoa germplasm, conducting genetic investigations through selection and hybridization breeding, development of varieties for high productivity, quality, industrial value and both biotic and abiotic stresses, specifically tolerance to Phytophthora pod rot, Helopeltis spp. and low moisture stress and also gene expression studies. She also evaluated elite clones and hybrids under different cropping systems under arecanut, coconut and oil palm gardens in different agro climatic regions through multi location trials including non- traditional belts. Active participant in Asia Pacific Cocoa Breeders Working Group and had vast international research exposure through her visit to Brazil, USA, Malaysia, UK and the Philippines. She is co-ordinating the cocoa promotion activities of Govt. of India in collaboration with Directorate of Cashewnut and Cocoa Development (DCCD) under Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare and CAMPCO (Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Co-operative Ltd.). She is imparting skill in unemployed youth, women, tribal communities on cocoa nursery raising, cultivation and processing aspects.
Cocoa germplasm management, breeding, quality planting material production, farm and home level processing, cocoa promotional activities, skill development program
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Elain Apshara, S., Vivek R. Bhat and Nair, R.V. 2008. Comparative studies on elite cocoa progenies in their initial years of growth. Journal of Plantation Crops, 36 (1): 38- 44.
Elain Apshara, S., Vivek R. Bhat, Ananda, K.S., Nair, R.V. and Suma, D. 2009. Evaluation and identification of high yielding trees in Nigerian cocoa germplasm. Journal of Plantation Crops, 37 (2): 111-116.
Aikkal Riju, M. K. Rajesh, P.T.P.F. Sherin, A. Chandrasekar, Apshara, S.E. and V. Arunachalam. 2009. Mining of expressed sequence tag libraries of cacao for microsatellite markers using five computational tools. Journal of Genetics 88 (2): 217–225.
Elain Apshara, S. and Nair, R.V. 2011. Genetic analysis in cocoa collections obtained from Nigeria. Journal of Plantation Crops 39 (1): 153-156.
Naganeeswaran, S., Elain Apshara, S. and R. Manimekalai. 2012. Analysis of Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) from Cocoa upon Infection with Phytophthora megakarya. Bioinformation 8 (2): 65-69.
Balasimha, D., Elain Apshara, s. and C. T. Jose. 2013. Genotypic variations in chlorophyll fluorescence and stomatal conductance of cocoa in relation to drought tolerance. Journal of Plantation Crops 41(1): 40-45.
Elain Apshara. S. 2013. Performance of selected cocoa clones under arecanut and coconut. Journal of Plantation Crops 41 (2): 242- 246.
Elain Apshara,S., M. K. Rajesh and D. Balasimha. 2013. Assessment of morphological, physiological and molecular characteristics of cocoa accessions from Central and South America in relation to drought tolerance. Journal of Plantation Crops 41 (3): 389- 397.
Naganeeswaran, S, Manimekalai, R., Elain Apshara, S., Manju,K.P., Malhotra, S.K. and Anitha Karun. 2014. Standalone EST Microsatellite Mining and Analysis Tool (SEMAT) for automated EST-SSR analysis in plants. Tree Genetics & Genomics. DOI 10.1007/s11295-014-0785-2.
M’bo Kacou Antoine Alban, Elain Apshara, S., Hebbar, K.B., Tahi G. Mathias and Aké Sévérin. 2015. Potential of antioxidant enzymes in depicting drought tolerance in cocoa genotypes at young age. African Journal of Science and Research 4(5): 18-23.
M’bo Kacou Antoine Alban, Elain Apshara, S., Hebbar, K.B., Tahi G. Mathias and Aké Sévérin. 2015. Morpho- physiological criteria for assessment of two month old cocoa genotypes for drought tolerance. Indian Journal of Plant Physiology (DOI) 10.1007/s40502-015-0195-y.
Naganeeswaran, S., Elain Apshara, S., Manimekalai, R., Amal Vasu and Malhotra, S.K. 2015. Cocoa ESTdatabase. Comprehensive database of Cocoa Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs). International Journal of Innovative Research in Computer and Communication Engineering 3(11): 10441-10444.
Naganeeswaran, S, Manimekalai, R. and Elain Apshara, S. 2015. Cocoa EST database CocoaESTdb: Comprehensive database of Cocoa Expressed Sequence Tags (EST’s). Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture EFJA 2015-08-680.
Senthil Amudhan, M. and Elain Apshara, S. 2015. A comparative study on antioxidant activity and biochemical profile of exotic cocoa clones. Journal of Plantation Crops 43(3): 231-235.
Elain Apshara, S. 2015. Growth and yield performance of Trinidad cocoa collections in Karnataka. Journal of Plantation Crops 43(3): 240-244.
M’bo Kacou Antoine Alban, Elain Apshara, S., Hebbar, K.B., Ananda, K.S., Tahi G. Mathias and Aké Sévérin. 2016. Change in epicuticular wax and biochemical secondary metabolites in cocoa under hydric stress. International Journal of Current Research 8(4): 28988-28999.
Elain Apshara, S. 2016. Selection of potential clones from Wayanad cocoa collections. Journal of Plantation Crops 44(2): 124-128.
Elain Apshara, S. 2017. Comparative study on clonal and seedling progenies of selected cocoa genotypes. Indian Journal of Horticulture 74(2):168-172.
S. K. Malhotra and Elain Apshara, S. 2017. Genetic resources of cocoa and their utilization- An Appraisal. Indian Journal of Genetics 77(2): 199- 213.
Elain Apshara, S. and Krithika, K.J. 2018. Evaluation of selective cocoa clones from Central and South America in their initial years of growth. Journal of Plantation Crops 46(3): 218-220. (NAAS 5.54).
Sujatha, S., Ravi Bhat and Elain Apshara, S. 2018. Climate change, weather variability and associated impact on arecanut and cocoa in humid tropics of India. International Journal of Innovative Horticulture 7(1): 27-37.
Bhalerao, P.P., Maheswarappa, H.P., Sumitha, S. and Elain Apshara, S. 2018. Performance of cocoa clones as intercrop in coconut gardens under south Gujarat condition. International Journal of Innovative Horticulture 7(2): 120-122. .
Shivaji H. Thube, Gagana Kumar Mahapatro, Chandrika Mohan, Thava Prakasa Pandian, R., Elain Apshara and Jose, C.T. 2019. Biology, feeding and oviposition preference of Helopeltis theivora, with notes on the differential distribution of species of the tea mosquito bug species complex across elevations. Animal Biology DOI 10.1163/ 15707563- 20191083.
Chaithra, M., Vanitha,S., Ramanathan, A., Jegadeeshwari, V., Rajesh, V., Hegde, V. and Apshara, E. 2019. Morphological and molecular characterization of endophytic fungi associated with Cocoa in India. Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology 38(6): 1-8.
Chaithra, Vanitha, Ramanathan, Jegadeeshwari, Rajesh, Hegde and Apshara, E. 2020. Profiling secondary metabolites of cocoa endophytic fungi Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae PAK-7 and L. pseudotheobromae TN-R-3 and their antimicrobial activities. Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology 39(2): 47-56.
Hebbar, K.B., Elain Apshara, S., Chandran, K.P. and Vara Prasad, P.V. 2020. Effect of elevated CO2, high temperature, and water deficit on growth, photosynthesis, and whole plant water use efficiency of cocoa. International Journal of Biometeorology 64(1): 47-57.
TECHNICAL BULLETINS
Elain Apshara, S. and Venkatesh N. Hubballi. 2012. Calendar for Cocoa (Revised edition- English). Technical bulletin 76, CPCRI, Kasaragod. 30 pp.
Elain Apshara, S. and Venkatesh N. Hubballi. 2013. Cocoa to chocolate. Training Manual. CPCRI, RS, Vittal and DCCD, Kochi. 10 pp.
Elain Apshara, S. 2016. Nursery manual on cocoa. Technical bulletin No. 109, Centenary Publication No. 44 , CPCRI, Kasaragod, p.24.
Elain Apshara, S., Shivaji Hausrao Thube, Thava Prakasa Pandian, R., Najeeb Naduthodi and Suchithra, M. 2018. Cocoa Guide. Technical bulletin no.134, CPCRI, Kasaragod and DCCD, Kochi, p. 53.
Elain Apshara, S., Shivaji Hausrao Thube and Thava Prakasa Pandian, R. 2019. Cocoa Notebook. Technical bulletin no.144, ICAR- CPCRI, Kasaragod and DCCD, Kochi, p. 70.
POPULAR ARTICLES
Elain Apshara, S., K. S. Ananda and D. Balasimha.2005. Cocoa breeding at CPCRI, India. INGENIC Newsletter, 10, September 2005, p.34-37.
Balasimha, D. and Elain Apshara, S. 2007. CPCRI: Cocoa breeding and physiology in India. Global Research on Cocoa (GRO Cocoa) USDA Newsletter, 11: 5-7.
Elain Apshara, S., V.R.Bhat, K.S.Ananda and R.V.Nair. 2008. High yielding cocoa varieties of the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, India. INGENIC Newsletter, 11, December 2007, p.12-15.
Elain Apshara, S. 2016. Cocoa varieties developed at CPCRI. The Cashew and Cocoa Journal 5(4): 15-18.
Elain Apshara, S., Bhavishya and Karthika, K.S. 2016. Production systems and canopy architecture. The Cashew and Cocoa Journal 5(4): 24-29.
Elain Apshara, S. and Bhavishya. 2016. Harvesting and processing. The Cashew and Cocoa Journal 5(4): 42-45.
Elain Apshara, S. 2017. Cocoa improvement programmes of ICAR- CPCRI- A Glance. The Cashew and Cocoa Journal 6(2): 9-19.
BOOKS
Elain Apshara, S. and P. Rajan. 2009. Profile of cocoa collections at CPCRI, Research Centre, Kannara. 61 pp. CPCRI, Kasaragod.
Elain Apshara, S., D. Jaganathan and D. Balasimha. 2011. Proceedings of seminar on strategies for enhancing productivity of cocoa. 206 pp. CPCRI, Regional Station, Vittal, Karnataka, 28-29 January 2011.
Elain Apshara, S., Sujatha, S., Venkatesh N. Hubballi and Ananda, K.S. 2012. Cocoa towards sustainability. CPCRI, Kasaragod and DCCD, Kochi. 102 pp.
Elain Apshara, S., Sudha, R., Anitha Karun and Muralidharan, K. 2019. Proceedings of International Meeting on Asia Pacific Cocoa Breeders Working Group (APCBWG). ICAR- CPCRI, Kasaragod, 20-25 May 2019, 42p.
BOOK CHAPTERS
Elain Apshara, S. 2016. Genetic Improvement of Cocoa.(In) K V Peter (Ed). Innovations in Horticultural Sciences. New India Publishing Agency, New Delhi. p. 105-135
Elain Apshara, S., Balasimha, D. and Parthasarathy, V.A. 2017. Cocoa. In: Breeding of Horticultural Crops Vol I- Part B: Spices and Plantation Crops. Ed. V.A.Parthasarathy, C.Aswath, K.Nirmal Babu and R.Senthil Kumar. Today & Tomorrow’s Printers and Publishers, New Delhi- 110 002, India. P. 591- 631.
Elain Apshara, S. 2019. Cocoa genetic resources and their utilization in palm- based cropping systems of India. IntechOpen, DOI: 10.5772/ 82077, www.intechopen.com/online-first/cocoa-genetic-resources-and-their-utilization-in-palm-based-cropping-systems-of-india. In: Theobroma cacao - Deploying Science for Sustainability of Global Cocoa Economy ISBN: 978-1-83962-733-0.