Dr. Thomas has more than 40 years of professional experience in the field of production, processing and marketing of various crops like Spices, Rubber, Aromatic and medicinal plants, Coffee and other plantation crops including Tea. He has more than 35 years of experiences in the area of Research & Development, Administration, Farmer support programmes, Teaching & Extension, as research guide and has published more than 125 research papers and articles in national and international journals. He holds a BSc. (Ag) & Msc. (Ag.) in Agronomy from Kerala Agricultural University and a PhD. (Agronomy) from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi as well as a Post Doctorate from Bristol University.