Dr Kumar was Director of National Research Centre for Plant Biotechnology (NRCPB) located on the campus of Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India. It is currently known as National Institute for Plant BiotechnologyNRCPB: http://www.nrcpb.org/content/dr-p-ananda-kumar NRCPB reached great heights during his tenure (2007-2012). The institute unveiled genome sequences of tomato, Pigeonpea and Linseed. Public-Private Partnership (PPP) was given impetus and several technologies were commercialized. The institute was conferred with 'Sardar Patel Best ICAR Institution Award' by ICAR and 'Mahindra Krishi Sansthan Award' by Mahindra and Mahindra.
