IIT scholar, K Ashok Kumar, won International Plant Nutrition Scholar Award

K Ashok Kumar, a research scholar from IIT Kharagpur (KGP), won the prestigious International Plant Nutrition Scholar Award.
•    Kumar, a research scholar at the department of agricultural and food engineering at the Bengal-based IIT, was recently awarded by the US-based International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI). The award carries a cash prize of 2000 US dollar and a recognition certificate.
•    Ashok is pursuing his PhD on 'Comparative Assessment of Direct and Residual Effects of Organic and Inorganic Nutrient Management on Rice-Chickpea Production System in Lateritic Soil.'
•    The objective of this research is to study the soil nutrient dynamics under organic and inorganic nutrient management to improve the crop yield and quality of rice-chickpea cropping system in lateritic soil.
•    The research will help application of organic fertilizers such as vermicompost in right amount and at the right time to the rice crop. It will increase the yield of the rice-chickpea cropping system by 10% as compared to the use of conventional synthetic fertilizers.
•    Further, the organic fertilizer application will improve the nutritional and cooking quality of rice grain and chemical and biological properties of the acid lateritic soil.
•    The International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) Board of Directors offers two awards of interest to graduate students and scientists working in plant nutrition and management of crop nutrients and they are International Plant Nutrition Scholar Awards and IPNI Science Award.
•    The International Plant Nutrition Scholar Awards are open to applicants who are graduate students and attending a degree-granting institution located in any country with an IPNI program. Priority is given to the relevance of the proposed research in support of IPNI's mission.
•    Students in the disciplines of soil and plant sciences including agronomy, horticulture, ecology, soil fertility, soil chemistry, crop physiology, and other areas related to plant nutrition are encouraged to apply for the award.