By Lana Koepke Johnson
Lincoln Department of Agronomy and Horticulture students received top honors at the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America International Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 10-13. Students honored include Luzviminda Sazon, Dipesh Giri, Lucia Bonfanti, Stephanie Lugo, Anmol Singh, Madhusudhan Adhikari, Deepak Ghimire and Arshdeep Singh.
Sazon, a doctoral student specializing in crop physiology and production, earned first-place in the ASA Ph.D. Oral Competition in the Advances in Nutrient Management Community. Her research focuses on understanding the seasonal nitrogen dynamics in high-yield soybean and finding a method to predict yield response to nitrogen fertilizer application. Sazon is advised by agronomy and horticulture assistant professor Nicolas Cafaro La Menza and Patricio Grassini, Sunkist Distinguished Professor of Agronomy. She plans to continue in crop science research after graduating in December 2024.
Giri, a master’s student, earned first place in the SSSA Graduate Student Poster & 5-Minute Rapid Presentation in the Soils & Environmental Quality Community. His research focuses on optimizing nitrogen fertilizer use in corn farming to increase yields while reducing environmental pollution and waste. By testing new nitrogen-saving products and methods, he aims to enhance nutrient uptake efficiency and minimize the environmental impacts of farming like water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. This work supports sustainable farming practices and protects the environment while meeting the growing demand for food and industrial crops. Ghimire is advised by agronomy and horticulture assistant professor Javed Iqbal and plans to pursue a doctoral degree after graduating in Spring 2025.
Bonfanti received second-place in the CSSA Graduate Oral Presentation in the Crop Physiology and Metabolism Competition. She is a master’s student specializing in crop physiology and production and is advised by Cafaro La Menza. Her research focuses on assessing the effect of nitrogen supply on soybean seed yield distribution within the canopy.
Lugo, a master’s student, received third-place in the SSSA Graduate Student Poster Presentation in the Forest, Range, and Wildland Soils Division. Her research focuses on assessing post-fire soil health in woodlands and grasslands of the semi-arid Nebraska National Forest of Halsey, Nebraska. Her work involves collecting and analyzing soil samples from areas affected by the Bovee fire, which occurred in October 2022. She collected samples at eight, 17, 20 and 22 months post-fire to assess the long-term impacts of fire on soil properties.
Lugo is advised by S. Carolina Cordova, agronomy and horticulture assistant professor and Statewide Soil Health Specialist. She plans to work as a soil scientist and mentor after her Summer 2025 graduation.
Anmol Singh, a doctoral student specializing in soil and water science, earned fourth-place in the SSSA Ph.D. Poster Presentation in the Soil Fertility-Nutrient Management Division. Singh’s research focuses on identifying optimal nitrogen fertilizer sources and their precise placement to maximize crop yield, enhance nitrogen use efficiency and minimize nitrogen losses through leaching, nitrous oxide emissions and ammonia volatilization. He is advised by Iqbal and plans to continue research on nitrogen management strategies after his May 2026 graduation.
Adhikari, a master’s student specializing in soil and water science, earned third-place in the ASA Graduate Poster Competition in the Nutrients and Environmental Quality Community. His research addresses the persistent issue of groundwater nitrate contamination in Nebraska, largely driven by fertilizer use. His work aims to reduce nitrate leaching through nitrogen stabilizers, optimized timing of nitrogen applications and better crop rotation and summer cover crop strategies. Advised by Iqbal, Adhikari plans to pursue a Ph.D. in precision nutrient management after receiving his master’s degree in Spring 2025.
Ghimire, a doctoral student, was awarded the ASA Encompass Fellows Program and the ASA Nelson Yield-Limiting Factors Graduate Student Scholarship.
The Encompass Fellows Program, generously sponsored by Bayer Crop Science, is for graduate students and is designed to provide an immersive in-person experience at the ASA Annual Meeting, a connection with a mentor from Bayer Crop Science, participation in virtual professional development workshops. The focus of the Nelson Yield-Limiting Factors Graduate Student Scholarship is on the leadership and accomplishments of the nominee's involvement in the development, acceptance and/or implementation of diagnostic services in higher, more profitable crop production.
Ghimire’s research focuses on exploring nitrogen-based advanced fertilizer and precision agriculture technologies to provide decision support tools to farmers to ensure optimized crop production and reduced environmental implications of fertilizer nitrogen, simultaneously. Ghimire is advised by agronomy and horticulture associate professor Bijesh Maharjan. After graduating in December 2024 Ghimire plans to continue working in research and extension to developing appropriate practices and tools to bridge the research and knowledge gaps for sustainable agriculture production.
Arshdeep Singh received the ASA Nelson Yield-Limiting Factors Graduate Student Scholarship. He also received the CSSA Gerald O. Mott Meritorious Graduate Student Award in Crop Science which recognizes top-notch graduate students pursuing advanced degrees in crop science disciplines.
Singh received his Ph.D. from Nebraska in May 2024 and is currently a postdoc at California State University. Singh’s advisors were Iqbal and Daniel Snow, Nebraska Water Center research professor.
Singh’s research, teaching and extension was focused on balancing crop production and sustainability goals in agriculture. He conducted integrated assessments of agroecosystem performance to optimize resource use efficiencies and crop yields while mitigating adverse environmental impacts. Of particularly interest to Singh was identifying cropping systems and management practices that increase nitrogen and water use efficiencies while reducing carbon footprint.
Source : unl.edu