At UBL, Sadasivan formed a research group to pursue studies soil-borne diseases affecting cash crops like cotton, pigeonpea and rice which is reported to have assisted in the better understanding of the soil-borne pathogens.[7] He developed several concepts such as competitive saprophytic ability and Rhizosphere effect and these studies were utilized by the Indian taxonomist, C. V. Subramanian, in his classification of Hyphomycetes. His group collectively published over 600 articles to document their research findings. Under his directorship, UBL became a University Grants Commission-accredited Centre for Advanced Study[6] and he mentored 52 doctoral research scholars, including C. V. Subramanian, a Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize recipient, who would later succeed him as the head of the Centre for Advanced Study.[8] He also established the School of Physiological Plant Pathology at Madras University and served as a consultant to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on plant-based laboratories.[1]
Sadasivan served as the President of the Indian Academy of Sciences (IAS) from 1971 to 1973 and held other positions at the academy such as Vice-president (1965–70), Secretary (1956–58) and council member (1946–49 and 1956–76).[9] He also sat in the council of the Indian National Science Academy during various terms (1958–59, 1962–64, 1971–73) and was the chairman of the governing council of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, also serving the institute as the Birbal Sahni Professor from 1977 to 1980.[1] He was the editor of the journal published by the Indian Botanical Society and served as a member of the editorial board of Journal of Phytopathology (Phytopathology Zeitschrift) published from Berlin. He chaired the Botany section of the Indian Science Congress of 1958 and was the vice president of the International Botanical Congress (1959, 1964, 1969 and 1975). When the first International Plant Pathology Congress held in London in 1966, he chaired the convention. He also served as the president of the Indian Phytopathological Society for the year 1964.[1]
Sadasivan was married to Radha and the couple had three daughters.[7] He died on 18 August 2001, at the age of 88, at Gokulam, his residence along Mundagakanniamman Koil Street in Mylapore.[5]
Sadasivan was reported to have donated a part of his property in Kodaikanal to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan for establishing a school where he served as the chairman for nearly fifteen years.[4] He was known to have had a fascination for photography.[6] He wore Khadi and used to wash his own clothes till his health failed a month before his death.[5]
↑D. Jayarama Bhat; J. Muthumary; C. Rajendran; S. Raghu Kumar & B. P. R. Vittal (May 2014). "Living Legends in Indian Science"(PDF). Current Science. 106 (10).
