J K Ladha

Dr. J. K. Ladha has devoted more than 32 years to aspects of sustainable management of agriculture and natural resources for increasing food security and environmental quality in developing countries. He is an expert of soil fertility and plant nutrition; serving at different positions since 1980. Currently, he is a Principal Scientist, and an adjunct senior scientist at the columbia Univeristy; associate in the Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of California-Davis. Dr Ladha...See more

Dr. J. K. Ladha has devoted more than 32 years to aspects of sustainable management of agriculture and natural resources for increasing food security and environmental quality in developing countries. He is an expert of soil fertility and plant nutrition; serving at different positions since 1980. Currently, he is a Principal Scientist, and an adjunct senior scientist at the columbia Univeristy; associate in the Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of California-Davis. Dr Ladha provided leadership to the Cereal System Initiative System for South Asia and the Rice-Wheat Consortium Project that aims to sustainably enhance the crop productivity. He was a "Frosty" Hill Fellow at Cornell University (July 07-June 08) and an adjunct professor of Soil Science at the University of the Philippines (1990-2004). He was born and grew up in Gwalior, India, and earned his PhD from Banaras University in 1976. Dr. Ladha is recognized internationally as an authority on sustainable resource management for increasing food security and environmental quality. He has made immense contributions to international agriculture through his research, training, and extension activities in several Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, and Thailand) on problems across national and regional boundaries. Dr. Ladha is one of those unique scientists who have demonstrated success in conducting both basic and applied research. He has had an opportunity to pursue the full spectrum of basic, strategic, and applied research to find insights and develop technologies to solve farmers' problems. Dr Ladha has published widely on issues related to sustainable and conservation agriculture. The impact of Dr. Ladha's work is evident from his exceptionally high h-index for citations (Google Scholar, 69; Web of Science, 51; Scopus, 50). He served on the editorial boards of several international journals including the Regional Editor of Biology and Fertility of Soils. He has been involved with several international advisory/scientific review panels. He supervised 35 master's and doctoral students from a dozen countries. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), American Society of Agronomy (ASA), the Soil Science Society of America (SSA), the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), the Indian Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), and an associate member of the Philippine Council of Agricultural Research (PARC). He is a recipient of several awards and honors notably, the Third World Academy of Sciences Agriculture Prize 2015, the International Crop Science Award 2015, the International Service in Agronomy Award 2011, International Soil Science Award 2010, International Plant Nutrition Institute Science Award 2009. In 2000 and 2004, the CGIAR awarded the Chairman's Excellence Science Award for Outstanding Scientific Partnership and the prestigious King Baudoin Award for Outstanding Research to the Rice-Wheat Consortium in which J. K. Ladha was the key scientist and IRRI's coordinator. See less