Soil scientist K. Prabhakaran Nair has been invited for a record fifth time to contribute a chapter to “ Advances in Agronomy ”, the magnum opus of agricultural science.
The chapter, titled “The Relevance of The Nutrient Buffer Power Concept in African and Asian Soils”, has been published in book form and launched in London, and has gone online.
It chronicles more than three decades of Nair’s pioneering research in Europe, Africa and Asia on a revolutionary soil management technique, which has challenged chemically-powered agriculture, euphemistically known as the Green Revolution, that has led to global environmental problems, such as degraded soils, dried aquifers, polluted groundwater due to indiscriminate fertiliser use and vanishing bio diversity.
The “cradle” of the green revolution, Punjab, is an example of this environmental tragedy.
The Nutrient Buffer Power Concept has won Nair several awards, including the International Fertilizer Award, Paris, and the Robertson Memorial Gold Medal For Outstanding contributions in Agronomy.
Advances in Agronomy is a prestigious 150-year-old publication with the highest impact factor of 3.85.