Conference chairs & committee

Prof. Dr. Samih Abubaker

Former Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Technology,
Al-Balqa Applied University,
Jordan.

Profile

Professor Samih Abubaker is a farming systems and sustainability specialist. He was the Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Technology at Al-Balqa` Applied University in Jordan from September 9, 2012 to September 7, 2016. He has over 30 years of experience in vegetable production, farming systems, sustainability, resources management, food security and poverty reduction. He received several short visits to universities around the world as a visiting fellow on teaching and development issues. Example universities include Rutgers, Washington State, Rostock, Technical Munich, Humboldt Berlin, and Bologna. He is an editorial board member and reviewer in several scientific journals, evaluator of mega research proposals for several national and international donors. Samih was a member of the Management Committee of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action FA 1105. He is serving as the chairman of the agro-environmental committee of the Jordan Society for Scientific Research (JSSR), a member of several national committees including organic farming, the national committee to oversee the school curriculum and others. He participated in more than forty international conferences and chaired the 11th Arab plant protection congress held in Amman, 2014. He has over sixty scientific publications and was awarded many prestigious medals and distinct shields for his outstanding contributions. Finally, Prof. Abubaker is always pleased to share knowledge and cultural integration to bring science and practice of sustainable agriculture a step forward.

Prof. Saman Seneweera

Chair Professor of Agricultural Engineering and Environmental Technology
Department of Agricultural Engineering and Environmental Technology
Faculty of Agriculture
University of Ruhuna
Sri Lanka

Profile

Professor Seneweera is a distinguished academic with over 30 years of extensive experience in research, teaching, and academic administration within multiple countries including Australia, Japan, the United States of America, and Sri Lanka. His research specialization is in molecular plant physiology, and his research effort is dedicated to enhancing crop adaptation to extreme environmental conditions and bolstering resilience against the challenges posed by climate change, including high levels of CO2, heat, drought, salt stress, nutrient deficiencies, and toxicities.
Throughout his illustrious career, Professor Seneweera has significantly contributed to advancing scientific knowledge on the understanding of fundamental mechanisms of how crop plants respond to future climate conditions. His research efforts have also led to developing and deploying stress-tolerant cultivars and effective system-based yield and resource management tools. Professor Seneweera’s leadership acumen is evident through his tenure in various pivotal roles, including Director (CEO/CFO-NIFS) and Head of Stress Biology (NIFS-Sri Lanka), Chair Professor, Program Leader (NIFS) discipline leader (USQ, Australia), and Lead Plant Physiologist (the University of Melbourne).
Professor Seneweera earned his PhD in Plant Physiology from Western Sydney University, Australia, beginning his remarkable academic journey. With a prolific scholarly output, he has authored or co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed articles, chapters, and books, reflecting his profound impact on plant science. Notably, Professor Seneweera’s research standing is underlined by his impressive H-index of 48 and close to 8000 citations. According to Stanford University’s ranking, he has consistently ranked in the top 2% of scientists worldwide for the past five years.

In addition to his research and leadership roles, Professor Seneweera actively contributes to the scientific community as a member of multiple editorial boards and scientific organizations. His outstanding contributions have been recognized through numerous awards and accolades for excellence and leadership. Furthermore, Professor Seneweera’s commitment to nurturing future talent is evident through his supervision of over 30 PhD candidates across different world regions. He stands among the top 1% of scientists in the agricultural domain, exemplifying his profound impact and dedication to advancing the field.

Prof. Dr. Siva K Balasundram

Head of Department of Agriculture Technology
Faculty of Agriculture
Universiti Putra Malaysia
Malaysia.

Profile

Siva K Balasundram is Professor of Precision Agriculture at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and currently heads the Department of Agriculture Technology, UPM. He is also the Regional (Asia-Oceania) Representative in the International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board. Professor Balasundram focuses on modeling spatio-temporal variability in agricultural land use and cropping systems to develop site- and time-specific strategies for resource use optimization. His toolbox includes geospatial statistics, remote and proximal sensors, geographic information system, global navigation satellite system, artificial intelligence and internet of things.

Professor Balasundram teaches one (1) graduate course (Principles and Applications of Precision Agriculture – TKP5401) and three (3) undergraduate courses (IoT Management – TKP3403, Remote Sensing Project Implementation – TKP3402 and Modern Agriculture Technologies – TKP3001). In terms of research, he has brought in research grants in the amount of RM1.7 million from nine (9) different projects over the past 20 years. He has authored/co-authored a total of eighty five (85) journal articles, forty six (46) proceeding papers, seven (7) book chapters and five (5) articles in professional magazines. He currently registers a Scopus h-index of 21. Additionally, he has two (2) copyrights and one (1) patent to his credit. He has also led eighteen (18) consultancies and built several industry linkages as a scientific advisor/resource person. Professor Balasundram has been frequently featured as a keynote and plenary speaker in many conferences/seminars/workshops internationally and locally. To date, he has delivered more than fifty (50) keynote/plenary/invited talks on Precision Agriculture, Smart Agriculture and Digital Agriculture.

Dr. N. Parasuraman

Principal Scientist
M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
India

Profile

Dr. N. Parasuraman, a renowned scientist and academic, is associated with the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), located in Taramani, India. With expertise in the field of agriculture and sustainable development, he has made significant contributions to the scientific community through his research, publications, and Rleadership roles.

As an integral part of MSSRF, Dr. Raman has been actively involved in studying and addressing the challenges faced by rural communities, especially farmers, in the context of sustainable agriculture and livelihoods. His work focuses on finding innovative solutions that blend traditional knowledge with modern science and technology to promote sustainable development and improve the quality of life in rural areas.

His research interests encompass various aspects of agriculture and rural development, including agro-ecology, conservation agriculture, climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and natural resource management. He has conducted extensive fieldwork and collaborated with local communities to understand their needs and develop context-specific strategies.

Furthermore, Dr. Parasuraman has played a key role in promoting knowledge exchange and capacity building among farmers, policymakers, and researchers. He has actively participated in organizing workshops, conferences, and training programs to disseminate scientific knowledge and foster collaboration for sustainable development. His works have been published in reputed scientific journals, and he has also contributed to numerous books and reports related to agriculture, sustainable development, and rural livelihoods.

Dr. Raman has been actively involved in nurturing young scientists and promoting interdisciplinary research collaborations to tackle complex challenges in agriculture and rural development. His efforts in this area have played a crucial role in shaping the next generation of scientific talent and promoting innovative solutions for sustainable development.

Conference Convener

Conference Secretariat

Scientific committee members

The Scientific Committee consists of the experts in the field from many different countries in the world. The Committee Members evaluate your abstracts and provide insights to improve those further. According to the final decision given by them, you would be able to process further tasks for attending the conference.