KSU Alumnus Advances Drone Based Soybean Research

By Blake Jackson

Kentucky State University alumnus Lalit Pun Magar has made a breakthrough in soybean research by identifying the most effective sensor for estimating plant height using drone technology. His research compares multiple aerial sensors—RGB, multispectral, and LiDAR—mounted on UAVs, offering new insights into phenotyping and crop yield predictions.

Pun Magar, who graduated with a Master of Science in Environmental Studies in Spring 2025, began his work at KSU’s Agronomy and Crop Physiology Lab in Fall 2023. He now continues this research as a Research Associate under Dr. Anuj Chiluwal. His study is unique because it combines several types of aerial sensors in one field experiment—a first in soybean phenotyping.

The research used DJI Mavic 3M and Matrice 300 RTK drones to gather data. That aerial data was then validated against manually measured soybean plant traits.

The key outcome was the identification of LiDAR as the most accurate sensor during pod development and seed filling stages. For later growth stages, an affordable RGB sensor also showed good performance.

“Working independently from pre-processing and post-processing drone data using advanced software, Mr. Pun Magar achieved a significant milestone by identifying the most effective UAV-based sensor for estimating soybean plant height,” said Dr. Chiluwal.

Pun Magar’s findings are published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Plant Science. His paper, titled “Plant height measurement using UAV-based aerial RGB and LiDAR images in soybean,” is accessible online.

He emphasized that these findings can support smarter decisions based on cost, crop growth stages, and accuracy. The research is part of a USDA-NIFA funded project titled, “Optimizing Nitrogen Management in Soybean Integrating Manual and High Throughput Aerial Phenotyping.”

Pun Magar has also completed multiple studies on vegetation health using drone images and is working on additional manuscripts for publication.

These contributions are significant in advancing precision agriculture and helping researchers and farmers make better decisions with the help of drone technology.

Photo Credit: kentucky-state-university