Harnessing dividends from drylands: innovative scaling up with soil nutrients

Dr K.V. Raju Theme Leader, Policy and Impact, Research Program-Asia, International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru, Telengana, India. He was previously Principal Scientist and Assistant Director, ICRISAT. He has served as Economic Advisor to Chief Minister, Government of Karnataka, India and acts as Professor and Head, Centre for Ecological Economics and Natural Resources, Institute for Social and Economic Change, India. Has published 16 books and more than 100 papers in international and national journals, besides large number of research reports (from international and national organisations like ICRISAT, IFPRI, IWMI, ICRAF, IEG, ISEC, IRMA, IIM-A) and proceedings.

Suhas P. Wani is Research Program Director - Asia and Director, ICRISAT Development Center (IDC) at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, India. His area of specialization is scaling-up science-based interventions to benefit millions of farmers in Asia and Africa particularly in the area of sustainable agriculture for improving rural livelihoods. His expertise spans through integrated watershed management and water use efficiency (green, blue and grey) in field to catchment scale, wasteland development, wastewater management, biodiesel plantation, integrated nutrient management and carbon sequestration for the conservation of natural resources and their sustainable use for improving livelihoods of farmers. Livelihoods improvement for small farm holders is the main thrust of his research for development (R4D). Dr. Wani has organized a number of national and international meetings and coordinated a number of multi-disciplinary, multi-country projects in the area of sustainable natural resource management and for improving livelihoods and building the resilience of farmers.