Portrait of Suman Gajurel

Suman Gajurel

Research Scientist

Professional profile

Applied research that bridges science and paddock decisions.

My work sits at the intersection of soil, crop, and agriculture systems modelling. I partner with growers, universities, and industry bodies to translate evidence into tools that change practice.

Discuss a collaborationDownload CV
ProjectsResearchPapersTalksAwardsMediaResume
Project portfolio

Current projects

An overview of ongoing projects highlighting focus areas, approaches, and key outcomes in progress.

WA Farming Systems Project

2025 – 2026

The WA Farming Systems project is a 5-year co-investment between DPIRD and GRDC delivering farming systems R&D in WA’s medium and low rainfall zones. Through field trials, on-farm research, grower participation, and whole-farm modelling, the project tackles four priorities: profitable and low-risk system break options, seeding time opportunities and risks, strategies for profitability under low-emission scenarios, and management of crown rot through crop sequences, stubble breakdown, and nutrition.

  • APSIM
  • Climate scenarios
  • Soil constraints
  • Decision support
View project overview

WA Farming Systems Project – initial findings

2023 – 2028

The WA Farming Systems project is a five-year DPIRD–GRDC initiative (2023–2028) designed to boost profitability across crop rotations while managing production constraints and risk. Through multi-year, farmer-managed trials, the project investigates seeding time strategies, profitable system break options, and pathways to maintain margins under low-emission scenarios. It also explores how rotations, fertiliser inputs, and their interactions shape cereal water-use and nitrogen-use efficiency, offering growers research grounded in real farming practice.

  • Nitrogen
  • Emissions
  • Cropping systems
  • Field trials
See project insights
Research focus

Where I'm currently digging in

Farming systems with APSIM

Using APSIM modelling, multi-year field trials, and grower co-design to test seeding times, crop sequences, and nitrogen strategies across WA’s low and medium rainfall zones.

Scenario analysis and whole-farm modelling inform profitable rotations, water- and nitrogen-use efficiency, and low-emission pathways for growers across the grainbelt.

Explore the WA Farming Systems project
Peer-reviewed work

Published papers and reports

  • A cost-effective approach to estimate plant-available water capacity

    S. Gajurel, Y. Lai, C. Lobsey, K.G. Pembleton · Geoderma (2024)
    APSIMPlant Available Water CapacityAgricultural systems modelling
    Read publication
Talks & workshops

Sharing insights with the community

28 Aug 2024

Modelling & diagnosing soil constraints with digital datasets

Soil CRC Program 4 PhD presentation - Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia

Presented PhD research applying APSIM and biophysical modelling to integrate soil cores, climate data, and digital layers for diagnosing multiple soil constraints and building grower-focused decision tools.

Watch presentation
25-30 June 2023

A cost-effective approach to estimate Plant Available Water Capacity (PAWC)

Soil Science Australia Conference, Darwin

Presented research using APSIM Next Generation and inverse-modelling with public soil, weather, yield, and management datasets, to predict PAWC across diverse dryland farming systems in Australia. The model performed with R² = 0.75, CCC = 0.75 (RMSE ≈ 48 mm), offering growers a cost-effective tool for water diagnostics and agronomic decision support.

Darwin SSA 2023 Oral Abstracts
Recognition

Awards that shaped my journey

Research Scholarship

Spo; CRC and University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ)

University of Southern Queensland International Research Scholarship was awarded as a part of the Soil CRC research Scholarship under the theme 'Diagnosis frameworks for multiple and complex soil constraints'.

PhDResearch Funding
2021

University of Southern Queensland International Stipend Research Scholarship

University of Southern Queensland

Full stipend scholarship supporting doctoral research.

PhDStipend Scholarship
2021
Media and features

Stories that capture my work

Modelling and diagnosis of multiple soil constraints across Australian farming systems
Soil CRC – PhD Student Profiles - 2025

Modelling and diagnosis of multiple soil constraints across Australian farming systems

PhD project developing a data-centric diagnostic framework that integrates biophysical modelling, AI, and statistics to identify complex soil constraints across Australian farming systems.

View feature
Modelling a better future for agriculture
Soil CRC – News / Meet Suman Gajurel - 2024

Modelling a better future for agriculture

Profile story tracing the journey from a Nepalese farming background to PhD research in Australia, applying digital soil mapping and modelling to deliver grower-ready solutions.

View feature
What information farmers use to manage soil constraints
Riverine Plains – Soil Media Post - 2023

What information farmers use to manage soil constraints

Workshop conversation with growers and advisers exploring the mix of soil tests, trials, professional advice, and experience that informs on-farm decisions about soil constraints.

View feature
More media
Resume

Full curriculum vitae

The resume page hosts an embedded PDF viewer with options to download the document or get in touch for a customised capability overview. Follow the link below to explore.

Go to resume pageDownload CV (PDF)Request capability overview