Advances in Agronomy

DONALD L. SPARKS is the Unidel S. Hallock du Pont Chair and Francis Alison Professor at the University of Delaware. He is internationally recognized for his research in the areas of kinetics of biogeochemical processes and surface chemistry of natural materials. His research has focused on fate and transport of trace metals in soil and water, soil remediation, water quality, and carbon sequestration in soils. Dr. Sparks is the author of two previous editions of Environmental Soil Chemistry and more than 350 refereed papers and book chapters. He is fellow of five scientific societies, and he has been the recipient of major awards and lectureships including the Geochemistry Medal from the American Chemical Society, the Liebig Medal from the International Union of Soil Sciences, the Einstein Professorship from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Philippe Duchaufour Medal from the European Geosciences Union. Dr. Sparks served as president of the Soil Science Society of America and the International Union of Soil Sciences, has served on advisory committees for several national laboratories and national and international centers and institutes, and served as chair of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Committee for Soil Sciences and other NAS Committees.

1. Agronomic, Socio-economic, and Environmental Challenges and Opportunities in Nepal’s Cereal-based Farming Systems Timothy J. Krupnik, Jagadish Timsina, Krishna P. Devkota, Bhaba P. Tripathi, Tika B. Karki, Anton Urfels, Yam Kanta Gaihre, Dyutiman Choudhary, AbduRahman Beshir, Vishnu Prasad Pandey, Brendan Brown, Hom Gartaula, Sumona Shahrin and Yuga N. Ghimire 2. Environmentally Friendly Plant Essential Oil: Liquid Gold for Human Health Yuanyuan Chen, Li Liu, Hannan Wang, Jinghua Ma, Wanxi Peng, Ximei Li, Yong Lai, Baohong Zhang and Dangquan Zhang 3. The Use of Laser Biotechnology in Agri-environment as a Significant Agronomical Advance Increasing Crop Yield and Quality Agnieszka Klimek-Kopyra, Jan Wincenty Dobrowolski, Tomasz Czech, Reinhard W. Neugschwandtner, Florian Gambus and Dominika Kot 4. Drought Stress Responses in Non-transgenic and Transgenic Alfalfa – Current Status and Future Research Directions Andre A. Diatta, Doohong Min and S. V. Krishna Jagadish 5. Organic Farming: A Prospect for Food, Environment and Livelihood Security in Indian Agriculture Madhab Chandra Manna, Mahammad Mahmudur Rahman, Ravi Naidu, A.S.M. Fazle Bari, A. B. Singh, J. K. Thakur, Avijit Ghosh, Ashok K. Patra, S. K. Chaudhai and A. Subbarao