Education: B.Sc. Agri. (Hons.): PAU Ludhiana (1994); M.Sc. (Agri. Economics): PAU Ludhiana (1996); Ph.D. (Agri. Economics): PAU Ludhiana (2007)

Positions held: Research Officer (1999-2008); Deputy Director/ Agricultural Economist/Associate Professor (2008-2013); Professor (on deputation) (2014-2019); Professor-cum-Head (April 2019-April 2023); Comptroller (concurrent charge) (June 2020- Nov.2021 and May 2022 - July 2022); Director In-charge (AMIRIC) (concurrent charge) (June 2020- till date)

Field of Specialization: Agricultural Marketing, Econometrics, Agricultural Production Economics, Natural Resource Economics

Research Interest: Groundwater Sustainability, Climate Change, Agricultural Development and Policy

Research project:

1. Agricultural Marketing Innovation, Research and Intelligence Centre (AMIRIC) with PAU

2. Production System, Agribusiness and Institutions, Component-1: Impact Assessment of Agricultural Technology

3. Transforming India's Green Revolution by Research and Empowerment for Sustainable food Supplies (TIGR2ESS)

4. Action Learning Project on Water Stewardship – Phoenix Global at Karnal Site in India

5. Water, Agriculture and Livelihood Security in India

6. Improving Food and Livelihood Security in Punjab through Water-Energy-Agriculture Management under Climate Change and Variability

7. Capacity Building for National Planning in Food Security

8. Improving Policy Responses to Interactions between Global Environmental Changes and Food Security across Indo Gangetic Plain

9. Innovations for Reversing Ground Water Depletion and Promoting Secure Agricultural Income in Punjab and other parts of India

Selected Publications

1. Arora, K., Kumar, S., Adhale, P., Bhoi, P.B. & Vatta, K. (2023). Addressing the impact of Covid-19 on dairy value chains: evidence from Punjab, India. Current Science, 124: 570-577. (NAAS rating: 7.17)

2. Sharma, R.K., Kumar, S., Vatta, K., Bheemanahali, R., Dhillon, J. & Reddy, K.N. (2022). Impact of recent climate change on corn, rice and wheat in southeastern USA. Scientific Reports, 12: 16928. (NAAS rating: 10.99) ???????

3. Vatta, K., Bhogal, S., Green, A.S., Sharma, H., Petrie, C.A. & Dixit, S. (2022). COVID-19 Pandemic-Induced Disruptions and Implications for National Food Security and Farm Incomes: Farm-Level Evidence from Indian Punjab. Sustainability, 14: 4452. (NAAS rating: 9.89)

4. Bhogal, S. and Vatta, K. (2021). Can crop diversification be widely adopted to solve the water crisis in Punjab? Current Science, 120: 1303-1307. (NAAS rating: 7.17)

5. Green, A.S., Dixit, S., Garg, K.K., Sandya, N.R., Singh, G., Vatta, K., Whitbread, A.M., Jones, M.K., Singh, R.N. & Petrie, C.A. (2020). An interdisciplinary framework for using archaeology, history and collective action to enhance India’s agricultural resilience and sustainability. Environmental Research Letters, 15: 1-14. (NAAS rating: 12.95)

6. Vatta, K. and Buddhiraja, P. (2020). Farmers’ income in India: trends and prospects for future growth. Agricultural Economics Research Review, 33: 177-189. (NAAS rating: 5.84)

7. Mishra, V., Asoka, A., Vatta, K. and Lall, U. (2018). Groundwater depletion and associated co2 emissions in India. Earth’s Future, 6: 1672-1681. (NAAS rating: 8.85)

8. Vatta, K., Singh, G., Sharma, N. and Bhoi, P.B. (2018). Regional dimensions and determinants of income diversification in rural India. Agricultural Economics Research Review, 31: 33-46. (NAAS rating: 5.84)

9. Vatta, K., Sidhu, R.S., Lall, U., Birthal, P.S., Taneja, G., Kaur, B., Devineni, N. and MacAlister, C. (2018). Assessing the economic impact of a low-cost water-saving irrigation technology in Indian Punjab: the Tensiometer. Water International, 43: 305-321. (NAAS rating: 9.40)

10. Kaur, S. and Vatta, K. (2015). Groundwater depletion in central Punjab: pattern, access and adaptations. Current Science, 108: 485-90. (NAAS rating: 7.17)

Awards/Honours/Distinctions

1. Letter of Appreciation by Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN), Kyoto, Japan for supporting their research work on Paddy Stubble Management in India, 2022.

2. Third Prize for Poster Presentation on the paper titled “Direct Seeding of Rice in Indian Punjab: Insights from a Primary Survey” in International Conference on “Sustainable Agricultural Innovations for Resilient Agri-Food Systems” organized by Indian Ecological Society at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology for Jammu, 2022.

3. President’s Award for co-chairing the session in International Conference on “Sustainable Agricultural Innovations for Resilient Agri-Food Systems” organized by Indian Ecological Society in SKUAST, Jammu, 2022.

4. First Prize for the paper “Performance of SARIMAX and NARX Model in Predicting Tomato Prices in India” in the 1^st Annual Conference of Indian Society for Agricultural Development and Policy, 2022.

5. Dr Anamitra Saha Prize for the best published paper titled “Effects of Income Sources on Inequality among Agricultural Households in Northeast India” published in Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics by Indian Society of Agricultural Economics during 2021.

6. Dr NA Majumdar Award for best paper “Optimizing Irrigation Water Use in Punjab: Role of Crop Diversification and Technology”, received at 75^th Annual Conference of Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, Mumbai, 2015.

7. Gold Medal (Academic) in the Ph.D Program by the Society for Advancement of Academics, Sports and Cultural Activities (SAASCA), College of Basic Sciences and Humanities, PAU, Ludhiana.

8. Roll of Honour for securing the highest Overall Credit Point Average (OCPA) of 8.85 in Ph.D for the year 2006 by the Society for Advancement of Academics, Sports and Cultural Activities (SAASCA), College of Basic Sciences and Humanities, PAU, Ludhiana on the College Annual Day Function held on August 23, 2007.

9. Dr Sukhdev Singh Prize for Essay and Oration 2001-02 by PAU, Ludhiana (won during 2005).

10. German Foundation for International Development (DSE) Fellowship to participate in Diploma in “Agricultural Research for Development” organized by International Center for development-oriented Research in Agriculture (ICRA), Wageningen, the Netherlands from January 14 to July 25, 2002.

11. Best Trainee (amongst 24 participants from 16 different countries) during the Professional Development Programme for Agricultural Research and Development organized by International Center for development-oriented Research in Agriculture (ICRA), Wageningen, the Netherlands from Jan 14 to July 25, 2002.

12. Merit Certificate (Academic) in M.Sc. (Agricultural Economics), PAU, Ludhiana, 1996.

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