Dr. Rajan Aggarwal working as Chief Scientist of AICRP on “Irrigation Water Management”, Department of Soil and Water Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. He was bestowed Prof. Manjeet S. Chinnan Distinguished Professor Chair Award and also awarded Gold Medal-2017 by Soil Conservation Society of India. Previously he remains head of the department of Soil &Water Engineering (2015-19) and Renewable Energy Engineering (2020-2024) . Principal Investigator of projects entitled “Punjab: Pilot Implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer for Electricity to Agriculture” and “Use of Big Data Analytics for Adapting Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources”. He has already completed eleven research projects as PI/Co-PI/Collaborator on Groundwater Resource Management to Mitigate the Impact of Climate Change in Punjab and Haryana, Promotion of Micro irrigation, District Irrigation Plans, Decision support system for enhancing water productivity, Soil and water management in high intensive cropping regions, Farmers Participatory Research Programme etc. He has designed and installed more than 250 recharge structures for rainwater harvesting, agricultural runoff and surplus canal water at different sites in the state. He has more than 230 publications in international/national journals, popular articles, book chapters etc. authored a book entitle “Fundamentals of Groundwater and Drainage Engineering”. Dr. Aggarwal is associated with National Board of Accreditation as Expert Member, Department of Science and technology as Expert Member of the committee on “Sustainable agriculture and Rural Transformation Holistic Initiative (SARTHI), State level Ground water Coordination (SGWCC) for coordination and implementation of National Project on Aquifer Management (NAQUIM), and District Irrigation Plan under PMSKY. 

Professional Accomplishments

Research Projects: All India coordinated Research Project on Irrigation Water Management

Research Publications:

1. Singla C, Aggarwal R and Kaur S (2022). Groundwater decline in Central Punjab—Is it a warning? Groundwater Sustain Dev 16:100718.

2. Vashisht A and Aggarwal R (2016). Performance of cotton mat as pre-filtration unit for groundwater recharging. Curr Sci 111:1591–1595.

3. Kaur S, Aggarwal R and Lal R (2016). Assessment and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from groundwater irrigation. Irrig Drain 65:762–770.

4. Kaur S, Aggarwal R, Jalota S K, Vashisht B B and Lubana P P S (2014). Estimation of groundwater balance using soil–water–vegetation model and GIS. Water Resour Manag 28:4359–4371.

5. Aggarwal R, Kaushal M P, Kaur S and Singh B (2009). Water resource management for sustainable agriculture in Punjab, India. Water Sci Technol 60:2905–2911.

Awards and Recognition:

• Bestowed Manjeet S. Chinnan Distinguished Professor Chair Award.
• Awarded Gold Medal-2017 by Soil Conservation Society of India for sustainable contribution for the cause of Natural Resource with Harmony between ecology and economics, care for plants, animals and wildlife.
• Associated with the Department of Science and technology as Expert Member of the committee on “Sustainable agriculture and rural transformation holistic initiative (SARTHI) for a period of three year.
• Associated with National Board of Accreditation as Expert Member of the team.
• Nominated Agricultural Scientist for Punjab for finalization of Aquifer management plan being prepared by Central Ground Water Board under Aquifer Mapping & Management Program.
• Member State level Ground water Coordination (SGWCC) for coordination and implementation of National Project on Aquifer Management (NAQUIM).
• Member State level Nodal Agency, Punjab (Govt. of Punjab, Rural Development Department, Office of Joint Development Commissioner).
• Member “State Level Steering Committee” (SLSC) for National Hydrology Project for its effective implementation and monitoring in the State of Punjab.
• Alternate Member solar Photovoltaic water pumping system Sub Committee.
• Attended Regional stakeholder workshop titled “Climate change risks in water resource management in South Asia”, Colombo, Sri Lanka as an acknowledge expert in the area/key stakeholder on 12-13 July, 2016. The workshop was part of a project led by International Water Management Institute and supported by the World Bank.