Dr. Ravi Khetarpal is the Executive Secretary of Asia Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) since 2017. He has many years of experience in strategic planning, partnerships and institutional growth for promoting the agricultural innovation ecosystem. In his current role he facilitates and promotes networking, capacity building, knowledge management, policy issues and partnerships among countries and Institutions in the region, and facilitates implementation of global and regional projects on agriculture innovation system, phytosanitary compliances, pesticide risk mitigation, agribiotechnology and bioresources, agriculture science technology indicators and risk mitigation for stakeholders in the region. In the past he had served for NARES (ICAR, India) and also as Regional Director of CABI (South Asia).

He holds PhD in Life Sciences (Plant Pathology) from University of Paris. He worked as a Consultant of twelve FAO/World Bank/USDA Projects in Asian countries on biosecurity and compliances to SPS Agreement of WTO and represented Asia as Developing Country Expert in SPS working Group of STDF/WTO. He Chaired the Tropical Agricultural Platform (a G-20 Initiative) from 2020-2022 and is currently serving as a Chair of Global Forum of Agricultural Research and Innovation with Secretariat at FAO.