Dr. Shashi Suman joined PAU as Assistant Soil Scientist on February 6, 2015, at Dr. J.C. Bakhshi Regional Research Station, Abohar. He completed his B.Sc. in Forestry (2001) and M.Sc. (2003) and Ph.D. (2011) in Soil Science & Water Management from Dr. Y.S. Parmar University, Solan (HP). Before PAU, he served as Assistant Professor at KVK Barnala. Since September 2023, he has been working as Soil Chemist in the Department of Agronomy, PAU Ludhiana. His expertise includes water and nutrient management and abiotic stress tolerance studies. He has completed three externally funded projects, guided two M.Sc. students and currently supervises two M.Sc. and two Ph.D. scholars. Dr. Suman has published 25 research papers, delivered over 50 lectures and given two radio talks on water and nutrient management in fruit crops and cotton in South-Western Punjab. He is a life member of several professional societies, including the Indian Date Palm Society, the Horticultural Society of India and the Indian Society of Soil Salinity and Water Quality.

Professional Accomplishments:

Research Project completed:

1. Niche Area of Excellence- Genetic Improvement of Kinnow mandarin for Fruit quality, Biotic and Abiotic stress Tolerance, 2015-2020 (ICAR funded)
2. Innovative Strategies for Cimate resilient Citriculture (Kinnow mandarin), 2016-2018 (ICAR-CRIDA)
3. Rejuvenation of declining citrus orchards in Punjab, 2021-2024 (NHM Funded)

Research Publications:

1. 1. Pathania Shashi, Kumar A and Arora PK (2018) The response of different pomegranate cultivars to foliar application of potassium nitrate in arid irrigated region of Punjab. Journal of Plant Nutrition 41(20): 2572-2580. (NAAS: 8.28)
   2. Pathania Shashi and Singh H 2021) Evaluation and prediction of salinity tolerance behavior of citrus rootstocks Scientia Horticulturae. 289: 110422. (NAAS: 10.34)
   3. Pathania Shashi, Arora P K, Bhullar K Singh. and Shopat Ram (2022 Multi criteria decision making analysis to identify micronutrient deficiencies in Kinnow (Citrus reticulata Blanco.). Journal of Plant Nutrition 46(9): 1975-1987. (NAAS: 8.28)
   4. Pathania Shashi, Bajaj A, Mavi M S, Choudhary O P (2023) Comprehensive evaluation, analysis of mechanisms and the prediction of salinity tolerance in pomegranate. Scientia Horticulturae 313: 111918. (NAAS: 10.34)
   5. Pathania Shashi, Singh B, Brar AS, Singh S & Bajaj A (2024) Evaluating Salinity Tolerance of Pomegranate Cultivars Using Subordinate Function Analysis and Machine Learning. Communication in Soil Science & Plant Analysis (NAAS: 7.80)

Awards and recognitions:

• Awarded Gold Medal and certificate of honor for securing highest overall grade point in PhD.
• Awarded ‘Golden Jubilee Outstanding Doctoral Research Award’, by Fertilizer Association of India.