October 2022
January 2022:
Olufemi Adebayo joined our group this semester. Olufemi will be working on the cover crops/compost project.
January 2021:
Happy New Year! Sundar Sapkota joined our group this semester. Sundar will be working on grass buffer strips effects on soil health.
Vesh Thapa published a paper in the January issue of Applied Soil Ecology. Congratulations Vesh! Check this paper https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929139320306648
September 2020
Special Issue "Agroecological Approaches for Soil Health and Water Management"
Dr. Bharat Sharma Acharya and I will be guest-editing a special issue of Journal Sustainability "Agroecological Approaches in Soil Health and Water Management." We call for papers in the area of soil health and soil water dynamics.
August 2020
Sk Musfiq-Us- Salehin Published his first paper
Musfiq published his first paper in Sustainability, Congratulations Musfiq! Check the publications page for the detail.
May 2020
Las Cruces Sun-News Highlights Cover Crops Project
A five-year study by a New Mexico State University researcher found that integrating cover crops, such as legumes and grasses, into existing cropping systems can increase the biological health of soils on hot and dry semiarid lands. For the complete story, go to. https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/community/2020/05/02/nmsu-study-finds-cover-crops-can-improve-soil-health/3069219001/
Sk Musfiq-Us- Salehin Graduated
Musfiq graduate with an M.S. degree and now joining Dr. Nithiya Rajan's lab at TAMU for his Ph.D.
Congratulations Musfiq!
March 2020
Cover Crops Study Featured in ASA-CSSA-SSSA Science News
The Southern High Plains of the United States have low annual rainfall. When it does rain, though, intense storms can cause severe soil erosion. Strong winds also strip away valuable topsoil. Usually grown during seasons when primary crops aren’t cultivated, cover crops can include legumes such as pea and hairy vetch, or grassy crops like oats and barley. Cover crops do more than just cover fields between growing seasons. They help soils retain rainwater and reduce erosion from wind and water. Our study shows that cover crops can increase soil health in a semi-arid region of New Mexico. For the complete story, go to https://www.agronomy.org/news/cover-crops-can-benefit-hot-dry-soils
Wooiklee Paye, Ph.D. joins our Program as a Post-Doc
Dr. Paye's research involves evaluating conservation tillage systems and exploring the potential of improving soil health and resilience through innovative crop and forage production practices in semiarid regions. He receives PhD from Lousiana State University.
September 2019
New Strategically Timed Tillage Study on the News
Can strategically timed tillage improve the efficiency of no-till farming in the semiarid region? That’s a question one researcher from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at New Mexico State University is hoping to answer with a new study. For full story, go to https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/2019/09/21/nmsu-researcher-launches-study-strategically-timed-tillage/2391462001/
Pramod Acharya joins Cropping Systems and Soil Management Program from Summer 2019. He recently graduated from Eastern New Mexico University with MS in biology. He plans to work on the forage systems project.
May 2019
Our Efforts on Soil and Water Conservation on the News
At the Clovis Science Center, researcher Rajan Ghimire is looking at innovative ways to improve agricultural production, with a focus on the soil health of the area. Ghimire, an assistant professor in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, leads a team that is evaluating cover crops, conservation tillage systems and crop residue management practices intended to minimize soil organic carbon loss and improve nutrient cycling, soil health and water conservation in the area’s dryland and limited-irrigation cropping systems.
Cropping Systems and Soil Management Program is featured in the first issue of ACES Magazine https://aces.nmsu.edu/about/documents/aces_magazine_ sp19.pdf. and May 25 issue of Las Cruces Sun https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/2019/05/25/nmsu-researchers-test-new-water-conservation-practices/1237988001/.
February 2019
Babu Ram Khanal, Assistant Professor at the Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal successfully completed his four-month visit with us. Congratulations Babu! Hope our collaboration will continue.