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Indian American soil scientist wins Gulbenkian Prize
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation announced that Dr. Lal will share the €1 million prize with the Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming programme and an Egyptian organization.
Dr. Rattan Lal / Image- Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Indian American soil scientist Dr. Rattan Lal has been awarded the 2024 Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity for his groundbreaking work in sustainable agriculture.
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation announced that Dr. Lal will share the €1 million prize with the Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) programme and an Egyptian organization.
Dr. Rattan Lal is well known for his soil-centric approach to farming, which balances food production with environmental preservation and climate change mitigation. His work has highlighted the crucial role of soil health in sustainable agriculture and has earned him numerous accolades, including the World Food Prize and India's Padma Shri. Lal is a university professor at The Ohio State University and founder of its Carbon Management & Sequestration Center.
Dr Rattan Lal (extreme left) with other winners / The Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) programme, implemented by Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS), is recognized as the world’s largest agro-ecology initiative. Launched in 2016 by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, APCNF supports smallholder farmers in transitioning from chemically intensive agriculture to natural farming.
The 2024 Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, chaired by Angela Merkel, acknowledges the winners for their transformative approaches to sustainable agriculture, which have been proven effective in various challenging climatic conditions.
The prize highlights the vital role of sustainable farming methods in addressing global food security and climate resilience amidst the ongoing climate crisis. The prize fund will be equally distributed among the winners to help scale their efforts and inspire similar initiatives worldwide.
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