Soil scholar hopes to reduce global warming

Professor Rattan Lal was presented with the 2004 Environmental Quality Research Award on Nov. 3 in Seattle at the annual meeting of American Society of Agronomy.

"This is one of the highest awards that the society gives out. Dr. Lal has many distinguished credentials, he's a 37-year member, he's a fellow, served on 14 committees and has won several international awards," said Valerie Breunig, director of development at the American Society of Agronomy.

Lal has been a professor at Ohio State since 1987. He teaches a class in soil physics and another in soils and climate change.

Lal said his interest in soil science stemmed from his upbringing on a farm in Punjab, India. After studying in India he received his Ph.D. at OSU in 1968.

Lal said part of the solution to global warming lies in how soil is used for farming.

His research, which he has been conducting since 1989, is focused on finding ways to reduce risks of global warming by reducing carbon dioxide concentration in the air through a process called soil carbon sequestration.

The process includes no-till farming, growing cover crops, restoring eroded and degraded soil and conserving soil and water resources.

By doing soil carbon sequestration, up to 15 percent of human induced emissions of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could be reduced and converted into plant bio-mass, Lal said. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing by 3.3 billion tons annually.

This change in atmospheric chemistry is causing a steady increase in the global temperature. The process will also help improve soil and water quality, which will contribute food security on a global scale - another important issue, Lal said.

"Carbon that does not form SOM is ultimately lost to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and, in this gaseous form, contributes to the greenhouse effect associated with global warming," said Jerry Bigham, interim director for the School of Natural Resources.

Lal has conducted research in Ohio and throughout the world visiting countries in Africa, South America and Asia.

He worked for 17 years at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan, Nigeria. Lal has worked with Battelle research laboratory, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture among others.

"(Soil carbon sequestration) is already being implemented in the United States and Canada because the importance of the research is recognized here. There is a need to adopt this research in developing South America, Asia and Africa," Lal said.

Lal developed the Latin American Soil Carbon Network that is funded by the U.S. State Department and he is the coordinator of the CIRIT-Climate Change Initiative of OSU which is supported by the Office of International Affairs Office of Research.

"The 2004 Environmental Quality Research Award is a reflection of Dr. Lal's contributions to soil management for advancing both food security and the quality of our global environment," Bigham said.

For more information about the American Society of Agronomy, visit www.agronomy.org/.