Awards Of Excellence: Dr. Raj Khosla Named 2015 Precision Ag Educator Of The Year

Raj Khosla and Paul Schrimpf

Raj Khosla, Colorado State University, accepts the Precision Agriculture Research/Educator of the Year Award from PrecisionAg Executive Editor Paul Schrimpf at the 2015 InfoAg Conference.

Colorado State University professor Dr. Raj Khosla, a distinguished Monfort professor of precision agriculture and an assistant dean of international programs in the CSU College of Agriculture Sciences, has been named the 2015 Precision Agriculture Educator of the Year. Since 2007, the PrecisionAg Awards of Excellence have been made possible by the support of the PrecisionAg Institute.

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Dr. Louis Longchamps writes in his nomination of Khosla: “Dr. Khosla has generated many discoveries in precision agriculture, most widely recognized among them is the innovative technique of creating ‘site-specific management zones’, currently being used by farmers in Colorado and many other places around the world.” Other innovations include:

Economic Feasibility of Precision Nutrient Management: Dr. Khosla’s comprehensive study on the economics of variable rate nutrient management documented an increase in net return on investment ranging from $17 to $54/ac over the uniform management.

Improved Nitrogen Management: Extensive on-farm research developing and evaluating management zones for variable rate nitrogen management has shown reduction in nitrogen loadings by 8% to 22% while enhancing grain yield productivity.

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Precision Conservation: Dr. Khosla along with his colleagues pioneered the concept of “Precision Conservation” in 2003, which has been widely adopted by practitioners, land managers, state and federal Natural Resource Conservation Agency.

Khosla is well-known in precision agriculture academic circles throughout the U.S. and the world, according to Longchamps.

“Dr. Khosla has truly made a global impact in precision agriculture,” writes Longchamps, a fellow Colorado State professor. “This is reflected in his leadership efforts to promote precision agriculture worldwide, his research projects and contributions in both large and small scale farming systems and in his global reach around the world. In June of this year, he is scheduled to deliver a keynote at the Global Food Security Forum in Beijing, on how precision agriculture can play a pivotal role in addressing global food insecurity while minimizing environmental damage to the planet.”

Additionally, Longchamps says Dr. Khosla has provided outstanding leadership and is considered an international authority in the area of precision agriculture.

“This is clearly reflected in Dr. Khosla’s recent selection by the US National Academy of Sciences as the 2012 Thomas Jefferson Science Fellow, a highly prestigious appointment,” he writes. “In this capacity, Dr. Khosla serves as the Senior Science Advisor on Food Security for the US Department of State and covers 21 economies across the Asia-Pacific Region.

“His leadership contributions to the profession are many and are being realized worldwide. He is the brain child behind the creation and organization of the International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) and is the founding President of ISPA for 2010- 2012 (appointed by general election) that has membership from over 30 countries. As the Past-President of ISPA he is considered an international ambassador of precision agriculture by many. Also, he is the past-president of the Western Society of Soil Science, which includes Western Canada, and parts of the U.S., and Mexico, and is the past President of the CSU chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta International Honor Society of Agriculture.”

Khosla has also served as an Associate Editor of the Soil Science Society of America Journal for six years and is currently on the editorial board of the International Journal of Precision Agriculture.

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