Dr. Sunny Kumar is serving as an Agricultural Economist in the Department of Economics and Sociology at the College of Basic Sciences and Humanities, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, since 2021. He holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics. From 2013 to 2015, he worked as a Research Fellow in a project funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research within the Department of Agronomy. He later pursued his Ph.D. and successfully completed it in 2018. Following this, Dr. Kumar re-joined as a Research Fellow at the Agricultural Marketing Innovations, Research, and Intelligence Centre, established in the Department of Economics and Sociology, before taking up his current position as Assistant Professor under the same scheme. During his Ph.D., he was awarded a Doctoral Fellowship from ICSSR, New Delhi. During his doctorate research Dr. Kumar has published over 50 research papers in national and international peer-reviewed journals. Currently he is working on various issues of Agricultural Marketing in Punjab.

Research Projects (ongoing)

Statistical evaluation of regional inequalities in the socio-economic development among states of India funded by SURE-DST, New Delhi as Co-PI.

Research Publications with Impact Factor

1. Bhattacharyya P, Bisen J, D Bhaduri,S Priyadarsini, S Munda, M Chakraborti, T Adak, P Seelvam, A K Mukherjee, S L Swain,P K Dash, S R Padhy, A K Nayak, H Pathak, Kumar S and P Nimbrayan (2021) Economic and environmental gain of sustainable rice straw management practices over field burning: Turn the wheel from waste to wealth. Science of the Total Environment 775: 1-17(Impact Factor 10.75)
2. Sharma R K, Kumar S, Vatta K, Bheemanahalli R, Dhillon J, and Reddy K N (2022). Impact of

recent climate change on corn, rice, and wheat in southeastern USA. Scientific Reports 12: 16928. (Impact Factor 5.00)

3. Sharma Y, Sidana B K, Kumar S, Kaur S, Sekhon M K, Mahal A K, and Mehan S (2023). Pre and Post Water Level Behaviour in Punjab: Impact Analysis with DiD Approach. Sustainability15: 2426. (Impact Factor 3.89)
4. Sharma R K, Dhillon J, Kumar S, Vatta K, and Krishna N. Reddy (2023) Crop-climate link in the southeastern USA: A case study on Oats and Sorghum & quot. Journal of Agriculture and Food

Research 12: 100626. (Impact Factor 3.80)

5. Sharma R K, Kumar S, Vatta K, Dhillon J, and Krishna N. Reddy (2022) Impact of recent climate change on cotton and soybean yields in the southeastern United States." Journal of Agriculture and Food Research 9: 100348.(Impact Factor 3.80)
6. Kumar S, Sidana B K, and Thakur S (2023) Climate change and its impact on productivity of major kharif and rabi crops in Punjab." MAUSAM74: 151-160.(Impact Factor 0.91)
7. Kumar S. and Sidana B K (2018) Farmers’ perceptions and adaptation strategies to climate change in Punjab agriculture. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 88:1573-1581.(Impact Factor 0.37)

Awards

1. ICSSR Doctoral Fellowship, Indian Council of Social Science Research (2015–16)
2. Received first prize in oral presentation on “Effect of Rainfall in Predicting Tomato Prices in India: An Application of SARIMAX and NARX Model” in 1st ISADP conference on “Challenges of Indian Agriculture” organized by Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana from March 21 – 22, 2022.
3. Received second prize in oral presentation on “Probability analysis for forecasting basmati prices in Punjab: Application of advanced forecasting models in 2nd Annual Conference of Indian Society for Agricultural Development and Policy (ISADP) “Pathways to Sustainable Agricultural Development”, organized by Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana from November 29 -30, 2023.
4. Recipient of the Dr. N. A. Majumdar Award for Best Paper Presentation at the 84th Annual Conference of the Indian Society of Agricultural Economics (2024), held at PAJANCOAandRI, Karaikal, Puducherry, for the paper titled “Impact of Exchange Rates and Price Elasticities on the Horticultural Trade Balance of India.”
5. Received Second price in Best Oral Presentation at the National Conference on “Reimagining Agriculture in India: The Role of Oilseeds and Pulses in Economic Growth”, held on February 25, 2025, at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, for the presentation titled “Unleashing the Potential Prospects of Blackgram Agri-Value Chain.”
6. Received Second price Best Poster Presentation for the paper titled “Marketing challenges faced by Mash growers and marketing intermediaries in Punjab: An Analytical perspective” at the National Conference on “Reimagining Agriculture in India: The Role of Oilseeds and Pulses in Economic Growth”, held on February 25, 2025, at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, for the poster presented under the Viksit Bharat 2047 initiative.
7. Received Second price in Best Oral Presentation at the National Conference on “Reimagining Agriculture in India: The Role of Oilseeds and Pulses in Economic Growth”, held on February 25, 2025, at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, for the presentation titled “Productivity Performance of major oilseeds in India: A total Factor productivity Approach.”

Recipient of the Second Best Paper Award at the National Seminar on “Climate Resilient Agriculture in the Facet of Transition in Agriculture (CRAFT)”, held on March 17–18, 2025, at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, for the paper titled “Does Climatic Parameters Affect Price Forecasting of Tomato in Punjab?”, under the ICSSR-supported theme.