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A Weed Scientist of International repute, Samunder Singh is a graduate and postgraduate from HAU Hisar, India. He completed his PhD from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow (UK) on a Commonwealth Fellowship and did his PDF from CREC, Lake Alfred, University of Florida, USA. He joined as Asstt. Scientist, Agronomy in HAU Hisar in 1984 and retired from the same Deptt as Prof. & Head in 2020. Dr Singh served as Director Agronomy in Micro Irrigation and Command Area Development Authority (MICADA), Haryana (India) from 2021-2025. He shouldered International Weed Science Society as its Newsletter Editor, Secretary, Vice-President, and President and served as a consultant for Gates AgriOne from 2023 to 2025 for South Asia. He was first to discover herbicide resistance in India in a wheat weed (Phalaris minor) in 1991 and later in several other weeds and generated recommendations for resistance management. He developed a rapid resistance detection test for herbicide using seed and seedling in two major grassy weeds and established integrated weed management for sustainable agriculture. He is a Fellow of the Indian Society of Weed Science, Indian Society of Agronomy, Weed Science Society of America and Distinguished Fellow of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

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Dr. Thi Ngan Phan is a researcher at CIRAD, specializing in plant-parasitic nematodes, genomics, evolution, and soil ecology. Currently based in France, however, she will soon join the LMI LEAD project at the Institute of Technology of Cambodia in Phnom Penh. Her work combines morphological and metabarcoding approaches to explore the diversity of nematodes in rice ecosystems in Cambodia. She focuses on understanding the interactions between soil microbiomes and plant-parasitic nematodes, aiming to harness beneficial microbes as bioinoculants for sustainable pest control.


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Dr. Arnaud Costa is Crop Health Advisor at CABI and Country Coordinator for CABI’s flagship Programme PlantwisePlus in Papua New Guinea. Entomologist by training, he has 20 years of experience in plant protection, chemical ecology and in biological control.
As a researcher in the field of biological control, he has investigated the dispersal and chemical ecology of bark beetles and their main predator (Thanasimus dubius) during his PhD; this research has demonstrated key features of edge behaviour in predator-prey dynamics within a complex and fragmented forest landscape. He has also worked on the importance of learning in parasitic wasps (Cotesia marginiventris) that can be used in biological control.
In the last decade (2015-2025), he has worked in Southeast Asia and in the Pacific region and developed Integrated Pest Management (IPM) solutions for smallholder farmers involved in various cropping systems, including rice, maize, sweet potato and in perennial crops (coffee, coconut, oil palm). He has managed successfully more than 20 international projects. He is the first author of the Biosecurity Plan for Coconut Industry in Papua New Guinea (2020) and he is the first author of several plant health manuals: a field manual for best farming practices in rice “Pest-Smart Practices and Early Warning System under Climate Change” (2018) in Vietnam, and a Biosecurity Manual edited at 500 copies for the Coconut Industry (2021). He has presented his research in more than 40 international scientific conferences.

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Prof. Dr. HOANG Thi Thai Hoa is a Dean of the Agronomy Faculty. She specializes in professional soil fertility and plant nutrition. She is responsible for researching and lecturing courses on soil and plant nutrition, and environment assessment. She has led and participated in 40 projects, and published more than 162 articles in international and in-country journals. Before joining as a Dean, she is a Director of the Centre for Environment and Waste in Agriculture (CEWA), University of Agriculture and Forestry, Hue University. She has also joined as member in management board of Vietnam Soil science association. She graduated with a bachelor degree in crop science in 1995 and a master degree in Agricultural systems from Chiang Mai University, Thailand in 2000. She obtained PhD degree in Soil Science in Belgium from 2005 – 2008. Prof. Dr. HOANG Thi Thai Hoa has been a lecturer at the University of Agriculture and Forestry, Hue University and studied on plant nutrition and soil health from 1995 till now.

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Nguyen Van Liem got Bachelor Degree in Plant Protection, Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA), Vietnam in May 1988. Worked at Plant Protection Research Institute (PPRI) from 1989 to 2000 as a research assistant in Entomology. Got Ph.D in Horticulture in 2005, in Western Sydney University Australia (formerly the University of Western Sydney, Auustralia) with PhD thesis “Repellent effects of mineral oil deposits on the oviposition behaviour of Queensland fruit fly and Oriental fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae). Researcher in PPRI from 2004 – 2009. From 2006 – 2009: Deputy Head of Division of Pest Diagnostic and Identification of PPRI;  2010 – 2014: Vice Director of PPRI; From 2018 to now: Senior Researcher; 2015 to now – General Director of Plant Protection Research Institute (PPRI).

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Dr. Frédéric Labbé, researcher at CIRAD (Agricultural Research for Development), is a genomicist interested in the evolution of emerging infectious diseases. He is currently based at the “Plant Communities and Biological Invaders in Tropical Environments” (PVBMT) research unit in La Réunion. Using genomics and epidemiology approaches, his research focuses on the drivers of the emergence of the non-culturable phytopathogenic bacteria that are transmitted by insect vectors. In particular, he has provided new insights into the epidemiology, ecology and evolution of the ‘Candidatus Liberibacter’ species associated with the citrus Huanglongbing (HLB) disease.

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Didier Lesueur earned his PhD in Plant-Soil-Microorganism interaction from the University of Paris VI (Pierre & Marie Curie) in 1992. He has held various positions since then, including working at the BSFT laboratory, CIRAD in France (1992-1996), IRD-Dakar in Senegal for eight years (1996-2004), CIAT-TSBF in Nairobi-Kenya for six years (2004-2010), LDD-Bangkok in Thailand for five years (2011-2016), and currently at the Asia Hub of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT in Hanoi-Vietnam, where he has been working since August 2016. Throughout his career, he has led research in soil microbiology, focusing on biological nitrogen fixation and using beneficial microorganisms to inoculate legumes and other crops in agroecological systems about nutrient cycles. He has extensive field experience in Africa (15 years) and Southeast Asia (13 years and counting). He is currently coordinating the CMBP Asia-Pacific network on microbial biotechnologies, aiming to develop soil biological indicators for improving soil health management by farmers. His field experiences are mainly in Africa (14 years) and Southeast Asia (more than 13 years now). He has co-authored over 130 referred journal articles or book chapters and has trained more than 15 PhD students and 50 M.Sc. students from Europe, Asia, and Africa.

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Dr. Pierre Lefeuvre is a researcher at CIRAD, specializing in plant pathology, microbial evolution, and ecology. He is currently based at the Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Can Tho University (CTU). His research focuses on the genomics and epidemiology of emerging plant pathogens, particularly viruses affecting legumes and staple crops. He has contributed to the development of high-throughput sequencing protocols for virus detection, which have been instrumental in characterizing viral communities across various ecosystems.

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Dr. Ho Le Thi is a lecturer at the Plant Protection Faculty, College of Agriculture, Can Tho University, Vietnam, and serves as the program coordinator for the graduate program in Plant Protection. She earned her Ph.D. in Plant Physiology and Allelopathy from Ehime University, Japan, in 2009 and pursued postdoctoral research at the University of Missouri, USA (2010–2015) under fellowships from the Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF), the American Association of University Women (AAUW), and the Department of Plant Science (MU). Dr. Thi has over 20 years of research experience in plant science, weed science, allelopathy, and plant protection. She has successfully identified potent allelochemicals from cucumber, rice, cosmos etc for biological weed control, contributing to several ISI/Scopus-indexed publications, two patents, three co-authored books, and three book chapters. In recognition of her outstanding research contributions, she received the prestigious Japan International Award for Young Agricultural Researchers (2014), being one of only three recipients worldwide. Her research focuses on sustainable weed management, exploring plant-derived bioherbicides, and enhancing the allelopathic potential of crops for eco-friendly agriculture.

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Prof. Tran Dang Hoa is working at Department of Plant Protection, University of Agriculture and Forestry, Hue University (HUAF). He graduated his MSc and PhD in Biological Control from Kyushu University, Japan. His expertise is related to insect natural enemies, biological control, IPM, ICM. His main works are the control of both crop insect pests using insect natural enemies as biological control agents and invasive species with classical biological control. Several biocontrol projects have been implemented in Central Vietnam

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Le Van Vang, Bachelor degree in Agriculture, Can Tho University (CTU, Can Tho city, Vietnam) on March 1997. Working at the College of Agriculture, CTU from 1997-2000 as a research assistant in Entomology. Master degree in Agriculture at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT, Tokyo, Japan) on March 2003. Master thesis: “Studies on the sex pheromones of lepidopterous species distributed in Japan and Vietnam: Identification, field evaluation and application for plant protection”. PhD degree in Agriculture at TUAT on March 2006. PhD thesis: “Studies on the sex pheromones of lepidopterous species distributed in Japan and Vietnam: Identification, field evaluation and application for plant protection”. Lecturer in Entomology at the College of Agriculture, CTU from 2006-2010. Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) postdoctoral fellow in Chemical Ecology at TUAT from 2010-2012. Lecturer in Entomology at the College of Agriculture, CTU from 2012-2014. Associate Professor at CTU from 2015-date