Professor Yadav's research focusses on capturing naturally occurring genetic variations present in crops germplasm for 'public good' outcomes. To realise such interests, he has developed unique genetic resources (genetic maps, markers, mapping populations, germplasm populations) and has pioneered their uses in complex traits dissections and breeding using marker assisted selection. He collaborates extensively, across the globe, with academics, industry partners and ‘not for profit’ inter-governmental organisations and has developed genetic technologies and crops varieties that are successfully adopted across south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Professor Yadav's latest research focusses on capturing genetic variations of nutritional traits in global millets germplasm and develop ways of breeding them in to staple crops varieties for contorting diet related illnesses such as type-2 diabetes and obesity in a cost-effective manner.

Professor Yadav involves in a number of activities externally, for example, he was  a member of UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021) sub panel 6: Agriculture, Food and Veterinary sciences (see details at - REF - https://www.ref.ac.uk/media/1789/main-panel-a-full-membership-list-nov-2021.pdf) concluded in 2022. Earlier in 2020, he completed his 3 years tenure as a member of BBSRC’s Follow-on-Fund Committee. Presently, he is a member of several research grant awarding panels within the UK (e.g., UKRI cross-council Interdisciplinary Assessment College, Newton Fund, British Council, Innovate UK) and abroad (e.g., European Commission, Swedish Council for Sustainable Development (known as Formas). He is Academic editor of PlosOne since 2014, and has guest edited special issues for Agronomy and Frontiers in Plant Sciences in the past.  

Dr. Rattan Yadav is a Professor of Plant Genetics and holds a personal chair at the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) of the Aberystwyth University. He received his DPhil degree from the University of Sussex and subsequently undertook post-doctoral research at International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Philippines before coming to Aberystwyth in 1996.