Micronutrient Fertilizer Use in Pakistan: Historical Perspective and 4R Nutrient Stewardship

Micronutrient research has been an important component of soil fertility and plant nutrition program in Pakistan since the identification of zinc deficiency in rice in 1969. Since then, considerable progress has been made on various aspects of micronutrient nutrition problems and their management.

Dr. Abdul Rashid received his PhD from the University of Hawaii, is a soil fertility and crop nutrition expert with special interest in micronutrients. He spent major part of his career at Pakistan's National Agricultural Research Center, where, finally, he served as Director General. Later, he served as Member (Bio-Sciences), Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. Dr. Rashid led a well-conceived research program for effective prognosis/diagnosis and cost-effective management of micronutrient disorders in field crops. His salient R&D contributions are identification, establishment, mapping and management of boron deficiency in rice and cotton grown in irrigated calcareous soils and determination of plant analysis diagnostic norms for boron, zinc and ferrous iron for many crops. He has published his research widely and his farmer-friendly micronutrient use technologies are adopted in the country. Dr. Rashid's consistent leadership and effective advocacy led to a 'pull force' for micronutrient fertilizer use in the country. Currently, he is pursuing agronomic biofortification R&D for enrichment of staple cereals with micronutrients to combat 'hidden hunger'. His monumental research contributions, versatile writings and persistent technology transfer to stakeholders have earned him many prestigious awards and recognitions, like IFA Norman Borlaug Award, IPNI Science Award, East West Center Distinguished alumni Award and Fellowship of Pakistan Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Munir Zia is has been a R&D Coordinator at Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited, Pakistan since 2001 and also holds Adjunct positions of Lecturer and Research Scientist at University of Nottingham - UK, and Center for Environmental Geochemistry - UK. Dr. Zia is expert in soil fertility, plant nutrition, and environmental geochemistry disciplines with research experience across Pakistan, Australia, USA, and UK. His particular interests are in development and testing of enhanced efficiency fertilizers, spatial variability of essential crop nutrients especially micronutrients, crop nutrition, environmental risk assessment, GIS-based soil fertility mapping; and agriculture-linked human nutrition. Dr. Zia earned doctorate degree in Soil Science in 2006 and has since worked as a Research Scientist at University of South Australia (Endeavour Research Fellow-2008/09); USDA - Agricultural Research Service-USA (Fulbright Research Scientist-2009/10); UoN-BGS Center for Environmental Geochemistry-UK (Commonwealth Professional Fellow-2012); Visiting Scientist at CEG- Keyworth (The Royal Society of Chemistry Fellowship -2014); Executive Fellow at University of Adelaide (Endeavour Fellowship-2016); and Professional Fellow at BGS-UoN (Commonwealth Fellowship-2018). Dr. Zia has published 40 papers to his credit in peer-reviewed journals with >1500 citations (h-index 17). Dr. Zia also holds FAO (UN) Chair of Asian Soil Partnership - Pillar 2 for Asia Region.

Waqar Ahmad earned his PhD from the University of Sydney, NSW, Australia and is an expert in soil and environmental chemistry, with interest in: carbon accounting and management for constrained ecologies, soil-linked human security, digital agriculture, and teaching in these domains for creating future leaders. Dr. Ahmad has been the recipient of Endeavour Award 2015 - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), at Perth Western Australia. He has been coordinating for Research, Development, and Extension (RD&E) organizations since 2003. As a consultant with FAO-UN, he led two projects on "4R Nutrient Stewardship" - (IPNI's philosophy for nutrients management) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and USDA-Foreign Agricultural Services in Pakistan. These projects were implemented in collaboration with the public and private sectors. He developed Soil Fertility Atlases for four provinces of Pakistan. The Atlases provide a comprehensive account of soil fertility status, classification, dominant soil series, parent material, native best management practices, fertilizer use trends and respective yields at farm-gate, with a management strategy for resource-based improvement. He demonstrated expertise in training, designing curriculum, resource mobilization, and engaging communities. Dr. Ahmad has published his work in journals of esteem and is a focal person of FAO-UN Asian Soil Partnership.