Dr. Santosh Kumar is currently working as Scientist (FMPE) since 2015 in the Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering at PAU, Ludhiana. Dr. Kumar did his B. Tech. (Agril. Engg.) from CSAUA&T, Kanpur (2007), M. Tech. and Ph.D.  (Farm Machinery and Power) from GBPUA&T, Pantnagar 2010 and 2014, respectively. He specializes in Agricultural Engineering with a focus on Farm Machinery & Power Engineering and his research interests include Precision Agriculture Technologies and Drone Sprayer Technology. He is the Principal Investigator of two major ongoing projects: the ICAR-funded Agri Drone Project (2023–2025) and the RKVY-funded project for establishing a DGCA-approved Remote Pilot Training Centre at PAU Ludhiana (2024–2026). He has also contributed as Co-PI to completed projects including a drone-based crop protection efficacy study funded by Bayer Crop Science Ltd. (2018–2021) and the SERB-DST-funded development of a variable rate fertilizer applicator (2018–2021). He has published 18 research articles, 3 book chapters and 13 popular articles in various reputed national and international journals. Dr. Kumar has been recognized for his contributions with the ISAE Best Paper Award (2016) and the Best Presentation Award (2024).

Professional Accomplishments:

Research Projects Accomplished:

1. Efficacy study of various crop protection products when applied though drone spraying system to manage pests in rice wheat and cotton crops” funded by Bayer Crop Science Ltd (2018-21) (Associated as Co-PI)
2. Design and development of variable rate fertilizer applicator funded by SERB, DST New Delhi. (2018-2021) (Associated as Co-PI)

Research Publications:

1. Lohan S K, Narang M K, Raghuvirsinh P, Kumar S and Singh L P (2024). Development and field evaluation of a VR/AR‐based remotely controlled system for a two‐wheel paddy transplanter. Journal of Field Robotics. https://doi.org/10.1002/rob.22389
2. Sharma A, Prakash A, Bhambota S and Kumar S (2024). Investigations of precision agriculture technologies with application to developing countries. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 1-37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-024-04572-y.
3. Kumar S, Singh M, Singh S K and Bhullar M S (2022). Droplet distribution and weed control efficacy of unmanned aerial vehicle sprayer in wheat crop. Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 59(2):126-136.
4. Kumar S, Singh M, Manes G S and Arora J (2020). Comparative field evaluation of auto-rotate gun sprayer for control of Bemisia tabaci in a cotton crop. African Entomology, 28(2):300-311.
5. Kumar S, Singh M, Manes G S and Pathania M (2020). Development and Evaluation of PAU Multi-purpose High Clearance Sprayer to Control Whitefly Incidence in Cotton Crop. The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 90(6):116-121.

Awards and Recognition:

1. ISAE Best Paper Award 2016 for paper Kumar S, and Singh T. P. (2016). Assessment of Power, Energy and Torque of Powered Disc through Soil Bin Study, Journal of Agricultural Engineering. Vol. 53 (3):1-9 by Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers on February 16-18, 2017 at HAU.
2. Best presentation award 2024 for his paper authored by Shiv Kumar Lohan, Mahesh Kumar Narang and Santosh Kumar paper entitled “Real time virtual interface of remotely controlled 2- wheel paddy transplanter” at 58th ISAE Annual Convention and International Symposium at VNMKV, Parbhani held on 12-14 Nov.2024.