Rita Patle | Agricultural Engineering | Research Excellence Award

Published-on by Indian Scientist

Dr. Rita Patle | Agricultural Engineering | Research Excellence Award

ICAR – Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering | India

Dr. Rita Patle is an agricultural engineer specializing in Farm Machinery and Power Engineering with advanced expertise in precision agriculture and automation. She earned her B.Tech in Agricultural Engineering and M.Tech in Farm Machinery & Power, followed by a Ph.D. focusing on the design of an autonomous site-specific variable rate fertilizer applicator. Over her career she has served as Assistant Professor, Senior Research Fellow, and Research Associate at leading agricultural-engineering institutes, and contributed to both teaching and R&D. Her research interests center on precision farming, sensor-based variable-rate fertilizer application, farm mechanization, and integration of AI and embedded systems for smart agriculture. She is recognized for her innovative contributions — she holds a design patent for an autonomous variable-rate fertilizer applicator, and has registered the software program controlling it. Her work has earned national-level awards and best-paper recognitions. Through peer-reviewed journal articles, technical bulletins and conference publications, she has helped advance sustainable mechanization in Indian agriculture. Her commitment to bridging academic research, practical engineering solutions and agricultural productivity underscores her goal to address real-world farming challenges and support agricultural growth for the nation.

Profile: Orcid

Featured Publications

Patle, R., Kavitha, R., Surendrakumar, A., Sahni, R. K., Suthakar, B., Kannan, B., & Maragatham, S. (2025). Development of a sensor-based embedded system for on-the-go variable-rate fertilizer applicator in maize crop. Results in Engineering, 28, 107852. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2025.107852

Patle, R., Kavitha, R., Surendrakumar, A., Balaji, K., Maragatham, S., & Suthakar, B. (2023). Estimation of sensor-based site-specific variable rate fertilizer application for maize (Zea mays L.) crop. Journal of Applied and Natural Science, 15(3), 1109–1118. https://doi.org/10.31018/jans.v15i3.4724

Patle, R. (2024). Variable rate fertilizer applicator (Software registration No. SW-18483/2024).

Patle, R. (2023). Autonomous variable rate fertilizer applicator (Patent filed at The Patent Office, India).

Vinod Kumar S | Agricultural Engineering | Best Researcher Award

Published-on by Indian Scientist

Dr. Vinod Kumar S | Agricultural Engineering | Best Researcher Award

ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi | India

Dr. Vinod Kumar S is a soil and water conservation engineer whose academic journey has led him through a B.Tech and M.Tech in Agricultural Engineering (with CGPAs of 7.64 and 9.25 respectively), culminating in a Ph.D. in Soil and Water Conservation Engineering (CGPA 8.13) from the ICAR-IARI New Delhi outreach campus. His research portfolio spans sensor-based vertical farming and aquaponic systems, IoT-driven precision drip irrigation and fertigation protocols, remote sensing and GIS for crop monitoring, and greenhouse automation. With published work including smart drip irrigation systems for horticultural crops and indoor aquaponics, his h-index stands at 4 with over 100 citations to date.Dr. Kumar has held positions such as Senior Research Fellow and Research Associate at ICAR-institutes, developing nano-sensors and cloud-based networks for real-time irrigation and innovative aquaponic solutions. His contributions have been recognised with awards including Best Oral Presentation and Best Poster at national conferences. He is passionate about enhancing water-nutrient productivity in sustainable agriculture through technology integration and concludes his research vision by aiming to bridge engineering innovation with agro-ecological resilience for food security.

Profile: Google Scholar

Featured Publications

Kumar, V., Singh, C. D., Rao, K. V. R., Kumar, M., Rajwade, Y. A., Babu, B., & Singh, K. (2023). Evaluation of IoT-based smart drip irrigation and ETc-based system for sweet corn. Smart Agricultural Technology, 5, 100248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atech.2023.100248

Singh, C. D., Rao, K. V., Kumar, M., Rajwade, Y. A., & Kumar, V. (2023). Development of a smart IoT-based drip irrigation system for precision farming. Irrigation and Drainage, 72(1), 21–37. https://doi.org/10.1002/ird.2734

Vinod Kumar, S., Singh, C. D., Rao, K. V. R., Rajwade, Y. A., Kumar, M., & Babu, B. (2025). IoT-based smart drip irrigation scheduling and wireless monitoring of microclimate in sweet corn crop under plastic mulching. Irrigation Science, 43(5), 1107–1126. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-024-00945-3

Kumar, S. V., Singh, C. D., & Upendar, K. (2020). Review on IoT-based precision irrigation system in agriculture. Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology, 39(45), 15–26. https://doi.org/10.9734/cjast/2020/v39i4531148

Bhat, A. G., Hasan, M., Singh, D. K., Sahoo, R. N., Yeasin, M., & Vinod, K. S. (2025). Design, development and testing of an IoT-based smart vertical hydroponic system for optimized nutrient management in a controlled environment. Irrigation and Drainage. https://doi.org/10.1002/ird.70105