Overview

National agricultural programs in South Asia often do not engage in strategic research to address critical biophysical constraints or poor farmer needs. I have been involved in building and facilitating functional relationships between international and national NGOs, community based farmer groups, agricultural extension and national agricultural scientists, so that research activities become more demand driven and relevant to farmers' needs. I also utilize my technical expertise to help national scientists and students in South Asia design and carry out probing and meaningful experiments to address critical issues related to soils, such as alternative tillage approaches, residue/biomass use for soil improvement, soil micronutrient deficiencies and improving soil biological health conditions. These connections also involve efforts to improve the technical capabilities of national scientists to adequately measure critical soil chemical properties or to assess the quality of their existing data.

Research Focus

Most of my recent research has focused on diagnosing and addressing sustainability problems in the rice-wheat cropping systems of India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Key areas of investigation have been: solarization for improving the root/soil health of transplanted crops (rice, vegetables); permanent raised bed systems to reduce the economic, water and soil problems of conventional and arsenic effected rice based cropping systems; quantifying soil carbon sequestration under minimum and zero tillage practices; seed priming and enrichment approaches to alleviate pervasive soil micronutrient deficiencies; developing lime recommendations for acid soils in Bangladesh; and assessing grain and herbaceous legumes for multiple benefits other than nitrogen. Domestically I have worked on projects investigating: dynamics and environmental controls of methane oxidation and production under different agroecosystems; temporal variability of nitrogen mineralization from various local, municipal sludge materials; soil quality monitoring of a sustainable agriculture project on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay; fertilizer nitrogen utilization and losses by spring wheat using 15N; and alternative soil indices for biological nitrogen supply to maize.

Outreach and Extension Focus

Developed farmer handouts, training materials and promotional packages to be used in dissemination of Solarization for Healthy Seedlings and Permanent Raised Beds for rice-wheat cropping systems in Bangladesh and Nepal. At the request of the International Rice Research Institute I conducted a hands-on training for national agricultural scientists from Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan on "Soil & Root Health Issues for Water Saving Rice Systems. "

Additional Links

• IRRI Rice Knowledge Bank (Bangladesh)
• IRRI Rice Knowledge Bank (Nepal)
• Rice Wheat Project
• Link to CALS Research portal
• Link to CALS Impact statements

Selected Publications

• Lauren, J.G., G. Shah, M.I. Hossain, A.S.M.H.M. Talukder, J.M. Duxbury, C.A. Meisner and C. Adhikari. 2007. Research station and on-farm experiences with permanent raised beds through the Soil Management Collaborative Research Support Program. In E. Humphreys and C. Roth (ed.) Permanent beds and rice residue management for rice-wheat systems in the Indo-Gangetic Plains. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) Proceedings No. 127. Canberra, Australia. (In press).
• Lauren J.G., G.S. Pettygrove and J.M. Duxbury. 1994. Methane emissions associated with a green manure amendment to flooded rice in California. Biogeochemistry, 24: 53-64.
• Duxbury, J.M., A.B. Mayer, J.G. Lauren and N. Hassan. 2003. Food chain aspects of arsenic contamination in Bangladesh: Effects on quality and productivity of rice. J. Environ. Sci. Health A38(1): 61-69.
• McDonald, A.J., S.J. Riha, J.M. Duxbury, T.S. Steenhuis and J.G. Lauren. 2006. Water balance and rice growth responses to direct seeding, deep tillage, and landscape placement: Findings from a valley terrace in Nepal. Field Crops Res. 95: 367-382.
• Culman, S., J.M. Duxbury, J.G. Lauren and J.E. Thies. 2006. Microbial community response to soil solarization in Nepal's rice-wheat cropping system. Soil Biol. Biochem. 38: 3359-3371.
• Banu, S.P., M.A. Shaheed, A.A. Siddique, M.A. Nahar, H.U. Ahmed, M.H. Devare, J.M. Duxbury, J.G. Lauren, G.S. Abawi and C.A. Meisner. 2005. Soil biological health: A major constraint in the rice-wheat cropping system. Int. Rice Res. Notes 30(1): 5-11.
• Johnson, S.E., J.G. Lauren, R.M. Welch and J.M. Duxbury. 2005. A comparison of the effects of micronutrient seed priming and soil fertilization on the mineral nutrition of chickpea (Cicer arietinum), lentil (Lens culinaris), rice (Oryza sativa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) in Nepal. Expl. Agric. 41(4): 427-448.
• Hobbs, P.R., Y. Singh, G.S. Giri, J.G. Lauren, and J.M. Duxbury. 2002. Direct seeding and reduced tillage options in the rice-wheat systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia. pp. 201-215. In S. Pandey, M. Mortimer, L. Wade, T.P. Tuong, K.Lopez and B. Hardy (eds.) Proc. Int. Workshop on Direct Seeding in Asian Rice Systems: Strategic Research Issues and Opportunities, Bangkok, Thailand. 25-28 January 2000. Int. Rice Res. Inst., Los Ba?os, Philippines.
• Lauren, J.G., R. Shrestha, M.A. Sattar, and R.L. Yadav. 2001. Legumes and diversification of the rice-wheat cropping system. In P.K. Kataki (ed.) The Rice-Wheat Cropping System of South Asia: Trends, constraints, productivity and policy. J. Crop Production 3(2): 67-102.
• Lauren, J.G., J.M. Duxbury, V. Beri, M.A. Razzaque II, M.A. Sattar, S.P. Pandey, S. Bhattarai, R.A. Mann, and J.K. Ladha. 1998. Direct and residual effects from forage and green manure legumes in rice-based cropping systems. pp. 55-81. In J.V.D.K. Kumar Rao, C.Johansen, and T.J. Rego (eds.) Proc. Int. Workshop on Residual Effects of Legumes in Rice and Wheat Cropping Systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, Pantancheru, India. 26-28 August 1996. ICRISAT Asia Center, Pantancheru, India.

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