Bhupinder Farmaha

Educational Background

Ph.D. Crop Sciences
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2011

M. Tech. Soil & Water Eng.
Punjab Agricultural University, India 2004

B. Tech. Agri. Eng.
Punjab Agricultural University, India 2002

Courses Taught

Soil Testing and Plant Analysis
Scientific Reading and Writing

Profile

I have 70% Extension and 30% research statewide responsibilities for soil nutrient management and plant mineral nutrition. My 'farmer-centric' integrated research and extension program at Clemson aims to improve the sustainability of South Carolina’s Agroecosystems in terms of profitability, environmental stewardship, and social acceptance. Specifically, I focus on developing nutrient management practices and precision agriculture technologies for major crops to maximize economic returns and reduce the potential of nutrient losses to the environment, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. In my extension activities, I seek to provide relevant, unbiased, and timely research-based information that is transformed into usable knowledge to benefit my clientele. In addition to my research and extension responsibilities, I also advise graduate students and supervise undergraduate students, research scholars, temporary workers, and technical support staff.

Research Interests

My goal is to develop a nationally recognized externally funded applied research program, which includes the development of technologies capable of enhancing current nutrient management strategies resulting in increased yields and nutrient use efficiency.

Objectives of my research program are:
1) Verifying and updating fertilizer recommendations for various crops in South Carolina.
2) Assess the impact of including cover crops in South Carolina cropping systems on nutrient management and soil health.
3) Identify a set of biological soil health tests that are easy to use and stable over time in determining nutrient recycling using pre-plant soil sampling;

Lab Members

1. Simranpreet Kaur, Ph.D., 2022-present
2. Karamvir Kaur, Ph.D., 2022-present
3. Shikha Dubey, Ph.D., 2021-present
4. Madelyn Hafer, Technician, 2024- present
5. Hunter Lander, Technician, 2023-present
6. Shurthy S. Kumar, M.S., 2021-2023
7. Christianah T. Oladoye, Ph.D., 2020-2023
8. Charles Williamson, M.S., 2020-2022
9. Calvin Leach, Technician, 2023
10. Sajjad Raja, Research Specialist, 2022
11. Annie Irshad, Research Specialist, 2022
12. Jemila Chellappa, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2021
13. Udayakumar Sekaran, Research Specialist, 2020
14. Adesuwa S. Erhunmwunse, M.S., 2017-2019

Extension and Outreach

My extension program provides current soil fertility management information to county extension agents, crop consultants, producers, fertilizer dealers, environmentalists, and researchers.

Objectives of my extension program are:
1) Demonstrate the agronomic and economic benefits of using best fertilizer management practices through on-farm trials and facilitate the grower adoption of these practices.
2) Provide local information to clientele about the use of cover crops and their management practices so to diversify SC cropping systems through on-farm demonstrations;
3) Provide need-based training to extension teams through workshops, field days, email alerts, extension articles, and media reports regarding various soil and crop management challenges and issues and how to address them.

Publications

Refereed Research articles:

Sims, A. L., Fabrizzi, K. P., Kaiser, D. E., Rosen, C. J., Vetsch, J. A., Strock, J. S., Lamb, J. A., & Farmaha, B. S. (2023). Soil phosphorus balance in Minnesota soils and its effects on soil test phosphorus and soil phosphorus fractions. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 00, 1– 15. https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20549

Irshad, A., Marshall, M. W., Greene, J. K., & Farmaha, B. S. (2023). Soybean yield response to Bradyrhizobium inoculation on southeastern coastal plain soils. Agronomy Journal, 115, 1015– 1020. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.21276

Erhunmwunse, A. S., & Farmaha, B. S. (2023). Soybean response to potassium, magnesium, and sulfur fertilization on Southeastern Coastal Plain soils. Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment, 6, 1– 9. https://doi.org/10.1002/agg2.20333

Singh, G., Wechter, W. P., Farmaha, B. S., & Cutulle, M. (2022). Integration of Halosulfuron and Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation for Weed Control in Tomato, HortTechnology, 32(5), 401-414. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH05040-22

Raza S and B.S. Farmaha. 2022. Contrasting corn yield responses to nitrogen fertilization in southeast coastal plain soils. Front. Environ. Sci. 10:955142. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.955142

Singh, G.S., W.P. Wechter, B.S. Farmaha, B. Ward, V. Suseela, and M.A. Cutulle. 2022. Assessment of Agro-Industrial Wastes as a Carbon Source in Anaerobic Disinfestation of Soil Contaminated with Weed Seeds and Phytopathogenic Bacterium (Ralstonia solanacearum) in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). ACS Agric. Sci. Technol. 2, 4, 769–779. DOI: 10.1021/acsagscitech.2c00071

Franzluebbers, A. J., Shoemaker, R., Cline, J., Lipscomb, B., Stafford, C., Farmaha, B. S., Waring, R., Lowder, N., Thomason, W. E., & Poore, M. H. (2022). Adjusting the N fertilizer factor based on soil health as indicated by soil-test biological activity. Agricultural & Environmental Letters, 7, e20091. https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.20091

Farmaha, B.S., U. Sekaran, and A.J. Franzluebbers. 2022. Cover cropping and conservation tillage improve soil health in the southeastern United States. Agron. J. 114, 296–316. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20865.

Farmaha, B.S., Pritpal-Singh, and Bijay-Singh. 2021. Spatial and Temporal Assessment of Nitrate-N under Rice-Wheat System in Riparian Wetlands of Punjab, North-Western India. Agronomy. 11(7):1284. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11071284.

Payero, J.O., M.W. Marshall, A.M. Nafchi, A. Khalilian, B.S. Farmaha, R. Davis, W. Porter, and G. Vellidis. 2021. Development of an Internet of Things (IoT) System for Measuring Agricultural Runoff Quantity and Quality. Agricultural Sciences, 12, 584-601. doi: 10.4236/as.2021.125038.

Payero, J.O., M.W. Marshall, B.S. Farmaha, R. Davis, and A.M. Nafchi. 2021. Development and Application of Cell-Phone-Based Internet of Things (IoT) Systems for Soil Moisture Monitoring. Agricultural Sciences, 12, 549-564. doi: 10.4236/as.2021.125035.

Sekaran, U., K.L. Sagar, L. G. D. O. Denardin, J. Singh, N. Singh, G.O. Abagandura, S. Kumar, B.S. Farmaha, A. Bly, and A.P. Martins. 2020. Responses of soil biochemical properties and microbial community structure to short and long-term no-till systems. Eur. J. Soil Sci.1–16. doi: 10.1111/ejss.12924.

Clay, L., K. Perkins, M. Motallebi, A. Plastina, and B. S. Farmaha. 2020. The perceived benefits, challenges, and environmental effects of cover crop implementation in South Carolina. Agric. 10:372. doi:10.3390/agriculture10090372

Chatterjee, A., A.F. De Jesus, D. Goyal, S. Sigdel, L.J. Cihacek, B.S. Farmaha, S. Jagadamma, L. Sharma, D.S. Long. 2020. Temperature sensitivity of nitrogen dynamics of agricultural soils of the United States. Open J. Soil Sci. 10:298-305. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojss.2020.107016.

Gibson, K.E.B., H.S. Yang, T. Franz, D. Eisenhauer, J.B. Gates, P. Nasta, B.S. Farmaha, and P. Grassini. 2018. Assessing explanatory factors for variation in on-farm irrigation in US maize-soybean systems. Agric. Water Manage. 197: 34–40.

At previous appointments (Purdue University, University of Nebraska, University of Minnesota, University of Illinois, and Punjab Agricultural University, India):

Farmaha, B.S., K.M. Eskridge, K.G. Cassman, H. Yang, J.E. Specht, and P. Grassini. 2016. Rotation impact on on-farm yield and input-use efficiency in high-yield irrigated maize-soybean systems. Agron. J. 108:2313–2321.

Farmaha, B.S., D.B. Lobell, K. Boone, K.G. Cassman, H.S. Yang, and P. Grassini. 2016. Contribution of persistent factors to yield gaps in high-yield irrigated maize. Field Crops Res. 186:124–132.

Farmaha, B.S., A.L. Sims, and J.J. Wiersma. 2015. Impact of nitrogen fertility on the production performance of four hard red spring wheat cultivars. Agron. J. 107:864–870.

Farmaha, B.S. 2014. Evaluating ANIMO model for predicting nitrogen leaching in rice and wheat. Arid Land Res. Manage. 28: 25–35.

Farmaha, B.S., and A.L. Sims. 2013. The influence of PCU and urea fertilizer mixtures on spring wheat protein concentrations and economic returns. Agron. J. 105:1328–1334.

Farmaha, B.S., and A.L. Sims. 2013. Yield and protein response of wheat cultivars to polymer-coated urea and urea. Agron. J. 105:229–236.

Fernández, F.G., B.S. Farmaha, and E.D. Nafziger. 2012. Soil fertility status of soils in Illinois. Comm. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 43:2897–2914.

Farmaha, B.S., F.G. Fernández, and E.D. Nafziger. 2012. Soybean seed composition, shoot-growth, and nutrient accumulation with P and K fertilization in no-till and strip-till.
Agron. J.104:1006– 1015. (A photograph from this study was selected by the editorial board and it was published on a cover page of Agronomy Journal volume 104, issue 4, July 2012).

Farmaha, B.S., F.G. Fernández, and E.D. Nafziger. 2012. Distribution of soybean roots, soil-water, phosphorus and potassium concentrations with broadcast and subsurface-band fertilization. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 76:1079–1089.

Farmaha, B.S., F.G. Fernández, and E.D. Nafziger. 2011. No-till and strip-till soybean production with surface and sub-surface phosphorus and potassium fertilization. Agron. J. 103:1862–1869.

Jalota, S.K., S. Singh, G.B.S. Chahal, S.S. Ray, S. Panigraghy, Bhupinder-Singh and K.B. Singh. 2010. Soil texture, climate and management effects on plant growth, grain yield and water use by rainfed maize-wheat cropping system: Field and simulation study. Agric. Water Manage. 97:83–90.

Bali, S.K., Raj-Kumar, H.S. Hundal, K. Singh, and B. Singh. 2010. GIS-aided mapping of DTPA extractable zinc and soil characteristics in the state of Punjab. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci. 58:189–199.

Kumar, R., P.K. Mehra, B. Singh, H.S. Jassal and B.D. Sharma. 2010. Geo-statistical and visualization analysis of crop suitability for diversification in sub-mountain area of Punjab, North-West, India. Photonirvachak—J. Indian Soc. Remote Sens. 38:211–226.

Kumar, R. H.S. Hundal, S.K. Bali, B. Singh, and B. Singh. 2010. GIS based available macro-nutrient mapping and precision fertilizer recommendations in Punjab. Indian J. Fert. 6:25–35.

Raj-Kumar, P.K. Mehra, Bhupinder-Singh, H.S. Jassal and B.D. Sharma. 2009. Crop suitability analysis for crop diversification in the sub-mountain zone—a case study. J Res. Punjab Agric. Univ. 46:153–162.

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

Kumar, R., H. Singh, B. Singh and K.K. Jain. 2007. GIS aided demographic analysis of sub-mountain area of Indian Punjab—A case study. Photonirvachak-J. Indian Soc. Remote Sens. 35:209–219.

Extension articles and Booklets:

Sekaran U, Alford S, Farmaha BS. Interpreting Routine Soil Tests. Clemson (SC): Clemson Cooperative Extension, Land-Grant Press by Clemson Extension; 2022 Sep. LGP 1151. https://lgpress.clemson.edu/publication/interpreting-routine-soil-tests/.

Sekaran, U. B.S. Farmaha, K. Wilson, B. Johnson, and D. Park. 2021 (In-preparation). Soil Erosion Types, Issues, and Mitigation in South Carolina Row Crop Agriculture. Clemson (SC): Clemson Cooperative Extension, Land-Grant Press by Clemson Extension; 2020.

Sekaran, U, B.S. Farmaha, M.W. Marshall, and J.O. Payero. Nitrogen and Irrigation Management for Sorghum in South Carolina. Clemson (SC): Clemson Cooperative Extension, Land-Grant Press by Clemson Extension; 2021 Apr. LGP 1110. https://lgpress.clemson.edu/publication/nitrogen-and-irrigation-management-for-sorghum-in-south-carolina/.

Farmaha, B.S., U. Sekaran, M.W. Marshall. Cover Crops for Weed and Nutrient Management. Clemson (SC): Clemson Cooperative Extension, Land-Grant Press by Clemson Extension; 2020 Sep. LGP 1088. https://lgpress.clemson.edu/publication/cover-crops-for-weed-and-nutrient-management/.

Farmaha, B.S., D. Park, and W. Caughman 2020. Precision Agriculture Based Soil Sampling Strategies. Clemson (SC): Clemson Cooperative Extension, Land-Grant Press by Clemson Extension; 2020. LGP 1083. https://lgpress.clemson.edu/publication/precision-agriculture-based-soil-sampling-strategies/

Farmaha, B.S. 2019. Basis of Selecting a Lime Material. Clemson (SC): Clemson Cooperative Extension, Land-Grant Press by Clemson Extension; 2019. LGP 1023. http://lgpress.clemson.edu/publication/basis-of-selecting-a-lime-material/.

Jones, M.A., B.S. Farmaha, J. Greene, M. Marshall, J.D. Mueller, and N.B. Smith. 2023. South Carolina cotton growers’ guide. Clemson Cooperative Extension. EC 589.

Farmaha, B.S., F. Reay-Jones, M.W. Marshall, S. Mickey, J.D. Mueller, M.T. Plumblee, N. Smith, and A.P. Turner. 2022 South Carolina Corn Production Guide.

Plumblee, M.T., B.S. Farmaha, J.K. Green, J.D. Mueller, M.W. Marshall, A. Turner, S. Mickey, and N. Smith. 2021. South Carolina Soybean Production Guide. EC-501.

Jones, M.A., B.S. Farmaha, J. Greene, M. Marshall, J.D. Mueller, and N.B. Smith. 2021. South Carolina cotton growers’ guide. Clemson Cooperative Extension. EC 589.

Anco, D., J. S. Thomas, M. Marshall, K. R. Kirk, M. T. Plumblee, B. S. Farmaha, J. Payero, and N. Smith. 2021. Peanut Money-Maker 2021 Production Guide. Clemson Cooperative Extension. EC 588.

Anco, D., J. S. Thomas, M. Marshall, K. R. Kirk, M. T. Plumblee, B. S. Farmaha, J. Payero, and N. Smith. 2020. Peanut Money-Maker 2020 Production Guide. Clemson Cooperative Extension. EC 588.

Jones, M.A., B.S. Farmaha, J. Greene, M. Marshall, J.D. Mueller, and N.B. Smith. 2019. South Carolina cotton growers’ guide. Clemson Cooperative Extension. EC 589.

Specht, J.E., T. Hoegemeyer, B.S. Farmaha, plus 30 other co-authors. 2019. Nebraska Soybean & Corn Pocket Field Guide 2019 Edition. NE Soybean & Corn Boards and United Soybean Board.

At previous appointments (Purdue University, University of Nebraska, University of Minnesota, University of Illinois, and Punjab Agricultural University, India):

Specht, J.E., T. Hoegemeyer, B.S. Farmaha, plus 30 other co-authors. 2017. Nebraska Soybean & Corn Pocket Field Guide. NE Soybean & Corn Boards and United Soybean Board.

Grassini, P., B. S. Farmaha, J. Specht, T. Hoegemeyer and R. Elmore. 2017 Rotation Impact on Irrigated Corn and Soybean Yields in Nebraska. Crop Watch Web page: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension (2017) http://cropwatch.unl.edu/2017/rotation-impactirrigated-corn-and-soybean-yields-nebraska.htm (accessed 05.18.2017).

Kranz, W.L., C. Burr, B.S. Farmaha, P. Grassini, G.W. Hergert, S. Irmak, D. Martin, A. Nygren, C.A. Shapiro, T. Shaver, and G. Zoubek. 2015. Irrigation and Nitrogen Management: User Education/Certification Program. EC2008. University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension Division.