Dr. Sandeep Kumar was born into a farming family in the village of Jaswantpura, Rajgarh (Churu), Rajasthan, India. He joined the Agricultural Research Services (ARS) in 2020 at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR), Regional Centre, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Currently, he is a scientist (agronomy) at the ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Regional Station, Karnal, Haryana, India. Dr. Kumar completed his schooling in his native village and earned his bachelor’s degree in agriculture (Hons.) in 2013 from the College of Agriculture, Lalsot, SKRAU, Bikaner, Rajasthan, India. He completed his master’s degree from BHU, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and his PhD in agronomy from Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, India, with a specialization in nutrient management in grain legumes. Throughout his academic career, he secured first division and qualified for the ICAR-NET three times, in addition to receiving prestigious SRF fellowships from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. His areas of expertise include improving resource-use efficiency in conservation agriculture-based rice–wheat systems, cropping system diversification, carbon sequestration, and carbon credits for sustainable crop production. A prolific author and editor, Dr. Kumar has received several accolades, including the Land 2020 Best Paper Award from MDPI and Wiley’s Top Cited Article Award for 2022–2023. He was also honored with the Best Young Scientist Award (Regional Station) for 2024–2025 by ICAR-IARI, New Delhi. Dr. Kumar is actively engaged in teaching postgraduate and PhD students at the IARI–IIWBR Mega Hub, Karnal, Haryana, India. He also plays a key role in institutional development and resource generation initiatives. His future research goals focus on soil carbon sequestration, climate change adaptation, carbon credit generation, regenerative agriculture, and low-emission technologies in a systems-based approach. Dr. Ram Swaroop Meena was born into a farming family and is working in the Department of Agronomy at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (IAS), Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. With an excellent academic background, he has been elected a fellow of several academies, including the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI), the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), the National Academy of Biological Sciences (NABS), the Indian Society of Agronomy (ISA), and the Society for Rapeseed-Mustard Research (SRMR). The Ministry of Education has also awarded him the Raman Fellowship for the USA under World Food Prize Laureate Prof. Rattan Lal, and he was an INSA visiting scientist at ISARC-IRRI (IRRI South Asia Regional Center-The International Rice Research Institute). Additionally, he has been listed among the world’s top 2% of scientists for his research impact. He has guided PhD and master’s students and completed 10 externally funded projects from IRRI, The ‘Institute of Eminence’ (IoE)-Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) Department of Science and Technology (DST), The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Ministry of Education (MOE), The Government of India (GOI). He has published books, at an international level (Springer, Elsevier, etc.). He has made significant research contributions to natural resource management and to farm and industrial waste recycling for soil health. Dr. Meena's research evaluates energy flow, atmospheric CO₂ capture, carbon credit and auditing, and eco-friendly techniques for a sustainable food system and soil regeneration, as evidenced by high-impact publications and extension work at the farmer level. His work is crucial for understanding the long-term stability of soil carbon, which enhances soil microbial and nutrient dynamics in rice-based diversified cropping systems. He trained farmers from the Deep Forest Tribe to adopt climate-smart practices to secure their livelihoods under the DST-SEED grant project. Dr. Meena has also contributed to agricultural extension activities in villages designated under the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India's initiative. His future work aims to reduce soil organic carbon oxidation and enhance its stability in agroecosystems, enabling farmers to benefit from carbon credits and generate additional income.
