Dr Shibendu Shankar Ray is the founding Director of the Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India.  Prior to this, he has worked in Space Applications Centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad, since 1991. He obtained his Masters (1989) and Doctorate (1994) degree in Agricultural Physics from Indian Agricultural Research Institute. Dr Ray has made significant contributions in the field of Remote Sensing Applications in Agriculture, especially in crop forecasting, drought assessment, horticultural development, crop insurance, climate change impact assessment, irrigation management, hyperspectral remote sensing, precision farming, etc. Dr Ray is leading many national level programmes, such as FASAL, CHAMAN, NADAMS, KISAN, etc. His major recent contributions include development of the new Drought Manual and developing guidelines for use of technology in Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.

His research works have been documented in more than 160 publications, including 60 in peer reviewed journals, with more than 1100 citations and an h Index of 18. He has been honoured with multiple awards, including National Geomatics Award (2015), Satish Dhavan Award (2014), ISRO Merit Award (2014), ISRO Team Award (2007), Prof. P. R. Pisharoty Memorial Award (2006), Hari Om Ashram Prerit Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Research Award for Space Applications (2006) and Fellow of Indian Society of Remote Sensing (2016).

Dr Ray has contributed to various professional societies, through many positions, such as Chair, International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) Working Group VIII/6 (2008-2012), Co-Chair, ISPRS Working Group III/10 (2016-2020), vice Presidents of  Indian Society of Remote Sensing (2014-2016) and Indian Society of Agro-Physics (2013-2015).