Shivendra Kumar

Extension: Regional Specialized Agent, Agronomic Crops

Dr. Shivendra Kumar provides science-based extension and education for North Florida farmers with a focus on the agronomic crops like peanut, corn, soybean and small grains.  His program is in collaboration with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Suwannee River Water Management District to have an impact on our farming community to bring behavioral changes. 

Shivendra has a strong background in plant breeding and genetics and utilizes his training in plant pathology, to have on-farm demonstrations and research trials to resolve the immediate and long-term needs of the community. He conducts variety trials for corn and peanuts along with new emerging crops, surveys farms for disease, pest and insect problems, collaborates with extension agents and specialists and helps to provide science-based solutions to daily challenges.  With increased scrutiny on agricultural water use and quality in Florida, he is exploring, researching, and sharing use of new technologies such as variable rate irrigation, control release fertilizer and soil moisture sensors to help farmers adopt and implement these Best Management Practices (BMPs).

Programs

Shivendra's programs include nutrient and irrigation scheduling that employ best management practices (BMPs) to keep farming productive while protecting water quality. He also focusses on developing on farm easily adaptable techniques like sap and petiole testing to help farmers take on spot decisions about use of fertilizer. One of the prime areas of his work involves surveying the peanuts for various diseases, nutrient requirements, and other issues to prevent reoccurrence of phenomenon like peanut decline/peanut collapse in the region. As part of his extension responsibility Shivendra is actively involved in arranging field days to demonstrate research advancement to our community. He facilitates as a regional resource to our county faculties.