UN chief picks PAU alumnus for global scientific group
UNITEDNATIONS: Two eminent agricultural experts hailing from India have been named members of an international scientific group, aimed to offer foremost scientific evidence for sustainable food systems, established by UN chief Antonio Guterres ahead of a global food summit next year.
Prof Rattan Lal, 76, an alumnus of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, and a renowned agricultural soil scientist from Ohio State University, and Dr Uma Lele of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE) are among the Scientific Group Members named by Guterres, a statement issued by the UN spokesperson said.
Lal, a preeminent IndianAmerican soil scientist, was named last month as the 2020 World Food Prize Laureate for developing and mainstreaming a soil-centric approach to increasing food production that conserves natural resources and mitigates climate change. Lal serves as distinguished university professor of soil science and founding director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at The Ohio State University. A native of India and citizen of the United States, Lal has in his career of over 50 years and across four continents promoted innovative soil-saving techniques that benefited the livelihoods of more than 500 million smallholder farmers, improved the food and nutritional security of more than two billion people and saved hundreds of millions of hectares of natural tropical ecosystems.
Lele, the first woman to be awarded a PhD in agricultural economics by Cornell University, was elected president elect of the International Association of Agricultural Economists in July 2018.