 Verma grew up primarily in Tikri and up to the twelfth standard studied at the government school in Tikri.After completing his twelfth standard in the science group from this school in 1991, he attended the G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar to complete his Bachelor of Science in agriculture and animal husbandry.Verma started his research career at G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, where he worked on the DNA fingerprinting of Indian scented basmati rice for identification of duplicate accessions.