लेखक: Anandkumar Naorem

Dr. Anandkumar Naorem, is working as a scientist in ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur, India. He was the former Head-in-charge in ICAR-CAZRI, RRS-Bhuj, India. He received his bachelor”s degree from Assam Agricultural University, Assam, India, and his master”s degree in soil microbiology and bioformulation from the College of Post-Graduate Studies, Central Agricultural University, Meghalaya, India. His doctoral dissertation at Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West Bengal, India, focused on soil heavy metal remediation for safe cultivation of crops. He has published more than 25 national and international articles that have been peer-reviewed, and has been awarded the best oral and poster presentations at numerous international seminars, workshops, and conferences. He received multiple national honours, including the 2015 Best Zonal Master”s Thesis from the Indian Society of Soil Science. In addition, he has been awarded the UGC-Maulana Azad National Fellowship for Minority Students (India). He has been a frequent guest on science and technology-related All India Radio programmes. He has been leading several institution research projects focusing on soil quality in arid areas and is the principal investigator of an international effort to promote spineless cactus as dryland feed in arid regions of Gujarat. Dr. Deepesh Machiwal is Principal Scientist (Soil & Water Conservation Engineering) at ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur, India. He obtained Ph.D. from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. Deepesh served as Assistant Professor (2005-2011) at College of Technology and Engineering, Udaipur, India. He worked as co-principal investigator in three research projects externally-funded by ICARDA, ICAR and state government. Deepesh has 59 papers in peer-reviewed journals, 4 books, 19 book-chapters, and 33 papers in conference-proceedings. His book was awarded by Outstanding Book Award-2012-13. He was conferred with Commendation Medal Award-2019, Best Paper Award-2018, Achiever Award-2015, Distinguished Service Award-2012-13, and IEI-Young Engineer Award-2012. He was awarded Junior Research Professional Fellowship and Second-Best Comprehensive Group Paper Award-2007 by IWMI, Sri Lanka. He was sponsored by FAO-Rome and UN-Water for participating in workshops at China and Indonesia.