Born in Kanpur on 9^th September, 1964 Dr. Harsh Kumar Dikshit completed his B.Sc. (Biology) from Kanpur University in 1984, M.Sc. (Ag) in Plant Breeding (1987) and Ph. D. (1990) in Plant Breeding from G.B.P.U. A & T, Pantnagar.  He started his professional career as Maize Breeder in Pro Ago Seeds at Bangalore in 1990 subsequently joined as Junior Breeder in AICRP on Pulses at G.B.P.U.A.& T.  in 1991; joined ICAR in 1993  as scientist  at  Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur; joined  ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute in 2002 and became Principal scientist in 2009.

 Dr. Dikshit has contributed significantly in different pulse crops like mungbean, lentil and rajmash. He also made significant contribution in Breeder Seed Production (NSP Crops project) and development of infrastructure for breeder seed production (NSP World Bank project) at IIPR, Kanpur, developed Revolving Seed Plan of pulses. Dr. Harsh Kumar Dikshit was involved in development, evaluation and release/notification of fifteen pulse crop varieties by combining conventional and molecular breeding in lentil and mungbean.  Among five lentil varieties (L 4717, L 4727, L 4729, PDL 1 and PSL 9) developed by him L 4717 is biofortified (65 ppm grain Fe concentration) with extra early maturity (100 days). L 4727 and L 4729 are bold seeded varieties with attractive seed colour. PDL 1 and PSL 9 are moderately tolerant to salinity. In mungbean Dr. Dikshit developed IPM 99-125, IPM 02-3, IPM 02-14, Pusa 0672, Pusa 1371, Pusa 1431 and Pusa 1641 which were released and notified. IPM 99-125 was developed by interspecific hybridization. These varieties were very popular. Three rajmash varieties developed for cultivation in northern plains include IPR 96-4, IPR 98-5 and IPR 98-3-1. He has eight genetic stocks and 325 DNA sequences registered to his credit. He has published 78 research papers and several review and technical articles in journals of national and international repute. He has written one book and edited four books. Dr. Dikshit is collaborating with HarvestPlus and ICARDA for development of biofortified varieties of lentil. He was/is PI and Co-PI in over ten externally funded projects and has bought total grant of about four crores to the institute.

Dr. Dikshit is involved in teaching to post graduate students at ICAR-IARI, new Delhi. He has taught/is teaching three courses. He has guided four M.Sc. and four Ph.D. students and presently is guiding two Ph.D. and one M.Sc. students.

Dr. Dikshit is recipient of several awards including Rajendra Prasad Award 2020 of ICAR; Dr. Ram Nath Singh Award 2019-2020 of IARI; Fellows of Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Indian Society of Pulses Research and Development and Society for Scientific Development in Agriculture and Technology. He is recipient of ICARDA recognition for his research in lentil. He has visited Nepal, Syria and Morocco.