Researcher of the month: Rajan Ghimire

Rajan Ghimire, one of the diligent students from Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), is among the few bloggers (click to find) in our circle. He completed his bachelor’s degree from IAAS in 2003 (major: soil science) and subsequently his master’s degree in soil science from the same institute in 2006. Later he worked as an assistant professor of soil science at IAAS (2006-2009) and won huge response from his endeavors. His master’s thesis entitled ‘Soil organic carbon sequestration by tillage, mulch and nitrogen management in Chitwan valley soils, Nepal’ succeed to produce 3 peer reviewed journal papers and 2 proceeding papers. The links for his articles are listed below. Visit his personal website and learn more about him (http://www.rghimire.com/).

1.   Soil organic carbon sequestration as affected bytillage, crop residue and nitrogen application in rice-wheat rotation system.

2.   Tillage and crop residue management effects onsoil organic carbon content of light and heavy soil of Chitwan valley, Nepal.

3.   Soil organic carbon sequesteration by tillageand crop residue management in Rice-Wheat cropping system of Nepal.

4.   Equation for predicting soil organic carbonusing loss on ignition for Chitwan soils.

5.   Graham’s Colorimetry as an estimate of SoilOrganic Carbon in Chitwan Valley Soils, Nepal  - pg. 402.

Rajan is involved in research works at University of Wyoming since 2009 as a PhD student. This blog is based on our skype conversation with Rajan about his works and some of his perspective on Nepalese agriculture.

Rajan has keen interest on soil organic carbon on agro-ecosystems. He says his Ph.D. research is more or less a continuation of his previous research works whilst in IAAS, but is more detailed and in-depth study of soil organic carbon in point. He is currently exploring the biogeochemical cycling in crop (Pinto bean-maize-sugar beet-maize) and forage (alfalfa-maize) production systems in central High-Plains of USA. During his study in Nepal, he used ‘Graham’s colorimetic and loss on ignition’ methods to detect soil organic carbon but now he uses more sophisticated techniques involving dry combustion, gas chromatographic and other to understand the dynamics and stability of soil organic matter (both C and N) pools in Wyoming agroecosytem. To complement this study, he is also evaluating the structure of microbial community and greenhouse gases emission from alternative management scenarios. He is keen about his research outcomes, which is yet to come, and excited to share the early responses of treatments on soil organic carbon, nitrogen and microbial community. He has recently reviewed major turning points on American agriculture and its progress toward integratedcrop-forage-livestock production, which is equally valuable for Nepal, at least in his understanding.

When we asked about the issues of depleting soil organic carbon in Nepalese soils, Rajan wanted to be more specific and replied based on few research facts. Particularly in the case of Chitwan, he said, sequestering carbon in soil is a challenging task owing to higher temperature and moisture that favors rapid decomposition of soil organic matter under disturbance. But, he says, at least in rice-wheat cropping system, no-tillage management would help to increase or at least maintain carbon to the current level. Transitioning to no-tillage system hinders to ward off weed problems and is a big challenge because conventional tillage is the way of life of majority farmers.

Rajan is very positive that his learning will bring back plethora of knowledge back home in different possible ways. We thank Ghimire for his valuable time and generosity, wish for his successful career and congratulate for his success in advance.


On behalf of AgCorner Team
Gunjan Khanal