Dr. Manpreet Singh joined PAU as Assistant Professor on 27.11.2006 after completing B. Tech (AE) from PAU, Ludhiana in 2001 and M. Tech (Farm Machinery and Power Engineering) from PAU in 2003. He did his PhD (Farm Machinery and Power Engineering) from PAU, Ludhiana in 2015. He has played a pivotal role in the development and commercialization of PAU Super SMS, PAU Happy Seeder and PAU Smart Seeder technologies to the manufacturers of Punjab and Haryana. His work also introduced a precision laser leveler for land leveling. Notably, his research findings, encompassing eight recommendations, were incorporated into the University Package of Practices. Dr. Singh has contributed extensively to academia, authoring 18 papers in referred journals and publishing 249 test reports on various agricultural machinery. His mentorship extended to guiding two M. Tech students and collaborating with a committee of six M. Tech and Ph.D. candidates. Beyond academia, he actively engaged in knowledge dissemination through 16 radio/TV appearances, 41 training sessions, 107 lectures, and the publication of 9 multilingual extension bulletins. His impactful contributions were recognized through prestigious awards, including the; DS Brar Young Scentist Award (2024), NRDC Societal Team Award (2019), G S Khush Team Award (2019), ISAE Team Award (2018) and the Best M. Tech Thesis Award from INAE.

Professional Accomplishments

 Research Projects completed

1. To develop a work plan for developing Fertilizer deep placement (FDP) funded International Fertilizer Development Center, USA, Misc.(FC)-13 (PC-5550) in 2022-2024 as Co-PI.
2. School of Natural Resources Management for Sustainable Agriculture funded by NAHEP-ICAR, in 2019-2022 as Co-PI.
3. Refinement and multi-location feasibility studies of straw management system for combine harvester to evenly spread loose residues funded by Department of Science and Technology in 2018-20 as Principal Investigator.
4. Evaluation and Popularization of Technologies for Paddy Straw Management (Component A: Refinement and Popularization of Machinery for Paddy Straw Management) during 2015-17 funded by National Food Security Mission (NFSM) as Co-PI.
5. Fine tuning of Happy Seeder Technology for adoption in North West India: Misc. 13B during 2008-11 funded by Australian Council for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) as Principal Investigator.

Current Research Projects

1. Development of robotic actuator to transplant wash root nursery of paddy using machine vision funded DST SERB in 2023-2026 as Principal Investigator.

Research Publications:

1. Singh Y, Singh M, Sidhu H S, Humphreys E, Thind H S, Jat M L, Blackwell J, Singh V (2015) Nitrogen management for zero till wheat with surface retention of rice residues in north-west India. Field Crops Research. 184: 181-193.
2. Sidhu H S, Singh M, Singh Y, Blackwell J, Lohan S K, Humphreys E, Jat M L, Singh V, Singh S (2015). Development and evaluation of the Turbo Happy Seeder for sowing wheat into heavy rice residues in NW India. Field Crops Research 184: 201-212.
3. Singh M, Sidhu H S, Singh Y, Singh S K and Pandey H S (2019) Performance evaluation of automatic vis-a vis manual topographic survey for precision land levelling. Precision Agriculture. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-019-09669-3
4. Singh M, Chaleka A T, Goyal R, Gupta N, Singh A, Singh M, Sharma S, Dixit A K, Malik A, Al‑Ansari N and Mohamed A (2024) PAU Smart Seeder: a novel way forward for rice residue management in North‑west India. Scientific Reports14:11747.
5. Sharma S, Kaur S, Choudhary O P, Singh M, Huqail A, Ali H M, Kumar R and Siddiqui M H (2022). Tillage, green manure and residue retention improves aggregate‐associated phosphorus fractions under rice–wheat cropping. Scientific Reports. 12:7167. DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-11106-x

Awards and Recognition:

1. Awarded Dr Darshan Singh Brar Young Scientist Award-2024 for outstanding contributions in strategic research on paddy residue management, development of PAU Super SMS technology, technology transfer and commercialization of farm machinery like PAU Super SMS, PAU Happy Seeder and PAU Smart Seeder for paddy residue management and sowing wheat after paddy. The award consisting of an amount of Rs. 50,000 (Fifty thousand only), and a plaque, presented on the Foundation’s Annual Awards Ceremony at PAU on 19^th March, 2024.
2. Awarded international fellowship under NAHEP CAAST project and visited as visiting scholar in the Department of ABE, University of Florida, US for three months from January 2022 to March 2022.
3. Awarded ‘NRDC Societal Team Award’ a cash prize of Rs. 3,00,000/- and citation in recognition of significant contributions to the development of the Super Straw Management System (SMS) during 2020.
4. Honourable Governor of Punjab awarded a cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000/- and citation in recognition of significant contributions to the development of the Super Straw Management System (SMS) during the Convocation held at PAU, Ludhiana, on 24.07.2019.
5. Awarded ‘ISAE Team Award 2018’ for the development of “Super straw management system (SMS): An innovative solution for in-situ management of paddy residue in rice wheat system” at the annual convention of ISAE on 28.01.2019, held at BHU, Varanasi, UP.
6. Awarded the ‘G S Khush Team Award’ and a cash prize of Rs 50,000/- for Excellence in Transfer of Technology to the farmers for the year 2017-18, presented on the annual day of the G S Khush foundation held at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.
7. Got a best paper award for paper on “A Prakash, GS Manes, A Dixit, Manpreet-Singh (2013) Performance Status of Rotavators being manufactured in Punjab. Journal of the Institution of Engineers. 94(1):53-58” by the Institution of Engineers.
8. Awarded Best M. Tech Thesis Award for research work on “Development and evaluation of the straw push through the assembly for a No-till drill” for the year 2004-05 by the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE).