Punjab Agricultural University alumnus Rattan Lal conferred with Gulbenkian Prize
Ludhiana, July 14
Internationally renowned soil scientist, Padma Shri awardee Professor Rattan Lal, an alumnus of PAU, has been bestowed upon the prestigious Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity – 2024, by the Portugal-based Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (CGF). The annual award is conferred upon individuals or organisations who richly contribute to global food security, climate resilience and ecosystem protection. Professor Lal shares this year’s one million euro prize money with two other recipients – Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF), which is a state-wide programme supporting small-holders, predominantly women, who switched to natural farming; and Egypt-based SEKEM, which is a conglomeration of NGOs.
Professor Lal is also the founder and director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at The Ohio State University. His work predominantly focuses on the soil carbon sequestration and climate change, soil health and global food security, soil degradation and restoration, soil quality and sustainable agriculture. He has advanced the understanding of sustainable agriculture and climate resilience by promoting research and education in sustainable soil management.
A recipient of several awards, Professor Lal was also the ‘Lead Author for the IPCC’ (1998-2000) and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Certificate by the IPCC (2007). He was also ranked as ‘World’s Most Cited Plant Science and Agronomy Scientist’ (2024), thereby establishing his academic and research eminence.
In a gesture, aptly befitting a scientist committed to the cause of intensive research, Professor Lal expressed his desire to donate the $350,000 award money to Ohio State and elaborated that the $15,000 annual interest generated from the award amount would be provided as assistance to three research scholars from PAU and IARI, who would be invited over to the Lal Carbon Centre and vice-versa. He shared that the formal academic arrangements for the scholarship programme would begin from 2025.
