Title: Associate Professor

Email Address: sriniv@nmsu.edu

Research Area: Agricultural Irrigation, Water Productivity, Evapotranspiration, Cover Crops and Forages

Education

PhD : (1998) Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India

• Specialization: Genetics
• Dissertation: “Investigations on drought tolerance in maize, A genetic and biochemical appraisal”

M.S. : (1995) Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU), Hyderabad, India

• Specialization: Genetics and Plant Breeding
• Dissertation: “Development of iso-cytoplasmic restorer lines in rice-a study in F3 populations”

B.S. : (1993) Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU), Hyderabad, India.

• Specialization: Agriculture

Research Interests 

My research interests center on developing resilient cropping systems and collaborative water management strategies that directly serve agricultural producers across New Mexico and the broader Southwest. Recognizing that technology adoption relies on practical viability, my work integrates deficit irrigation design, salt- and drought-tolerant crop screening, and on-farm irrigation system optimization into readily implementable producer frameworks. I emphasize collaborative, interdisciplinary research that connects agronomy, soil health, and extension leadership—engaging directly with private growers, state agencies, and tribal stakeholders. At the Artesia Agricultural Science Center, I aim to lead a program that develops irrigation and cropping-system recommendations alongside the people who will use them — private growers, tribal agricultural enterprises, and state and federal water agencies — so that research outputs translate directly into on-farm and policy decisions.

Professional Experience 

• July 2026 - Agricultural Science Centre, New Mexico State University Artesia, NM
• Responsibilities: Deficit irrigation, alternative crops, ET, soil health and forages

• December 2022 to 2026 - Western Colorado Research Center - Grand Valley, Colorado state University, Fruita, CO
• Responsibilities: Cropping systems, Forages-production and quality, cover cropping, water use efficiency, soil health, alternative crops and weed management

• May 2018 to November 2022 - Crop Production Systems Research Unit, USDA-ARS (ORISE), Stoneville, MS, USA
• Responsibilities: Cropping systems, cover cropping, water use efficiency in row crops including rice, corn, soybean and cotton, ecosystem fluxes through eddy covariance, soil amendments, forage quality, and weed management

• September 2017 to April 2018 - Center for Viticulture and Small Fruit Research Florida A&M University, FL, USA
• Responsibilities: Viticulture, cropping systems

• March 2017 to August 2017 -  Sugar Research Station, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
• Responsibilities: Sugarcane and energy cane breeding, cropping systems

• 2015 to February 2017 - Department of Microbiology and Cell Science & Radiation Oncology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
• Responsibilities: Bioenergy and forage sorghum agronomy & breeding and Virus induced gene silencing

• 2008 to 2015 - International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad, India
• Responsibilities: Led bioenergy and forage sorghum program, sorghum genetic enhancement for agronomic traits, biotic and abiotic stresses, international collaboration

• 2005 to 2008 - Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, India
• Responsibilities: Marker assisted breeding in rice, transcriptomics, gene expression analysis, cotton gDNA isolation method

• 1998 to 2005 - Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU), Hyderabad, India
• Responsibilities: Breeding sugarcane, corn, sunflower, and sesame 
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• Pinnamaneni Curriculum Vitae (CV)