Dr. Pradip Dey
Soil Salinity and carbon sequestration
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Presently engaged in planning and monitoring of activities of ICAR-Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute, Kolkata as well as 59 KVKs (Farm Science Centres) of Zone-V. Executed advanced research on GPS/GIS-based soil fertility mapping and developed nutrient plan of 173 districts of India covering 20 states. STCR- based nutrient application for enhancing yield and quality in dryland regions; soil quality index for different cropping system; bio- amelioration of spatially variable salt affected soil of semiarid region, waste water uses in non-food crops. Enumerated carbon sequestration in reclaimed alkali soils and sodic vertisols under horticulture-based, forestry-based, fodder-based and cereal-based systems. Developed conservation agriculture strategies for cereal, oilseed and pulse-based systems under reclaimed sodic
soils. The technology of Mridaparikshak was commercialized across India and generated more than 15% of Soil Health Cards (SHC) under the SHC Scheme of Govt. of India. ICAR-IISS has earned a royalty of more than Rs. 4 crores from commercialization of Mridaparikshak technology.
Patent Granted: Patent No. 347189 for Portable Soil Testing Kit for Agricultural and Horticultural Crops, granted on 21 September, 2020; the kit was commercialized also. Copyright granted (ROC no. SWl-14310/2021 dated 22 March, 2021 and Dairy no. 19250/2020-CO/SW) on Soil test crop response based fertiliser recommendation system for a targeted yield in FCV tobacco from Government of India. Executed 45 projects including 10 Externally funded, 5 Contractual and 2 Consultancy projects as PI. As Project Coordinator (STCR), given emphasis and encouraged the Scientists on the creation of Inter-disciplinary programmes and mobilization of external funding. Forty externally funded projects were processed as Chairman, Consultancy Processing Cell of ICAR-IISS, Bhopal to mobilize more than 32 crores and create the advanced facilities in the frontier areas of research.
Created new infrastructure as Project Coordinator (STCR) for soil test crop response studies in 21 Universities and 4 ICAR Research Institute. As Chairman, IPC, ICAR-IISS, Bhopal, helped in development of three new laboratories, namely Nano-tech Lab, Soil Biodiversity Lab and Soil and Produce Quality Lab. Capacity building was given impetus resulting into organization of 217 capacity building programme cum field day benefiting 12047 tribal farmers. More than 6000 FLDs were also conducted under different agro-ecological sub-regions to demonstrate beneficial effect of STCR-based nutrient management.
Providing Scientific Leadership to various Institutions/Societies/Associations viz., Lead, Biome Expert Group on Dryland, Ecosystem Services Partnership, Netherlands; Member of NICRA Review Team for KVKs; Editor, Journal of Soil Salinity and Water Quality, India and International Journal of Scientific and Engineer Research, USA; President (Elect) of Indian Science Congress Association (Agriculture & Forestry Sciences); Vice President, Indian Society of Soil Science, New Delhi (2020-2021); Vice President, Indian Society of Agro Physics (2014-2016); Adjunct Professor, UBKV, Cooch Behar; Member Secretary, RAC, ICAR-CSSRI (2010-12) and ICAR-IISS, Bhopal (2014-17); Member, IMC of ICAR-CSSRI, Karnal (2015-18) and CCARI, Goa (2017-20); Member Secretary, IRC of ICAR-CSSRI, Karnal. Instrumental in developing the CSSRI Vision-2030; reviewer of Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council, UK; SAARC Focal Point Expert of IPNS; Soil Science Expert of Knowledge Exchange programme in Kenya sponsored by GIZ, Germany. Visited 5 countries, viz., Australia (2006), USA (2010), Kenya (2016, 2017, 2019), Bangladesh (2017) and Germany (2017).
Contributed more than 400 publications including 193 research papers, 14 books, 30 book chapters, 33 technical bulletins, 94 extension bulletins; 98 popular articles and other publications with major emphasis in soil and crop production sustainability.
Salient awards and honours include two Gold Medals, six scholarship/fellowships and 40 professional honours/recognition. Fellow of West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology, Kolkata; Fellow of Indian Society of Soil Science, New Delhi; Fellow of Indian Society of Soil Salinity and Water Quality, Karnal; Fellow of Indian Academy of Horticultural Sciences, New Delhi; Fellow of Indian Association of Soil & Water Conservationists, Dehradun; recipient of 12th International Congress Commemoration Award of Indian Society of Soil Science; delivered 7th Dr. B. Ramamoorthy Memorial Lecture, instituted by TNAU, Coimbatore; Biome Expert Group Lead, ESP (IUCN), The Netherlands; Soil Science Expert of Knowledge Exchange programme in soil conservation and rehabilitation for study visit to Kenya sponsored by GIZ, Germany. Recipient of Social Innovator Award by the World Bank (UN) for sustained commitment to fostering a culture of research-led performance by bringing critical international scholarship on social justice.
Dr. Pradip Dey
A Unified Policy for Food Safety and Traceability - need of the hour
To mitigate the societal costs of foodborne illness, a comprehensive policy ensuring holistic food safety measures and robust traceability systems from farm to consumer is essential. This policy mandates standardized integration of food chain records, extensive and precise bidirectional tracking, and timely data collection. It supports producers with improved supply management, food safety and quality traceback, and promotes quality differentiation. For consumers, it builds trust and assurance through transparent traceability. Addressing challenges faced by small and medium enterprises in India, the policy enhances agricultural practices and infrastructure, with collaboration from agencies like FSSAI, APEDA, NABARD, FPO, ITC’s eChaupal, and Reliance.