Adjunct Professor Ram Dalal AM
Adjunct Professor

Ram Dalal AM

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Background

Professor Ram Dalal is a Professor in the School of Agriculture and Food Science at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. He has contributed significantly to create awareness in the farming, scientific and general community to the seriousness and insidious nature of soil degradation. As a consequence, restorative practices for sustainable land management were developed and promoted. The international nature of the program was demonstrated by the fact that it was part of the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Program. It is now nationally recognized by policy makers and politicians that land degradation and sustainable land management are the national and international priorities. These projects have made significant contribution towards these issues.

In the last 30 years Dr Dalal has worked towards sustainable land management systems, nitrogen management and soil carbon dynamics. He was the co-leader of soil carbon program in the CRC for Greenhouse Accounting (199-2006), leader of soil carbon changes following land clearing funded by the Australian Greenhouse Office (1998-2002), reviewer for the IPCC Good Practice Guidance (2006) for the land sector, and leader of the National Soil Carbon Program (2012-2015) and Soil Constraints Initiative - Management of Sodic, Magnesic or Dispersive Soils (2015). He has been a consultant and project research contributor to the International Atomic Energy Agency (2004-2009). Recently, he has led a number of projects on estimating soil carbon stock following land use change from native vegetation to croplands, grazing lands, and management of croplands and grazing lands and rangelands (2009-2015) funded by the Department of Environment and Heritage, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Department of Agriculture, Commonwealth of Australia. In addition, he has also been involved in estimating nitrous oxide and methane emissions/ uptake from different ecosystems including agriculture, grassland, plantation forestry and estuarine/ mangrove systems (2000 – 2015). He led the National Soil Carbon Program from 2012 to 2015.

Availability

Adjunct Professor Ram Dalal AM is:
Available for supervision

Fields of research

Crop and pasture production Environmental Sciences

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Indian Agricultural Research Institute

Research interests

  • Soil and Land Management

    Soil fertility, soil biology, soil chemistry, soil and water conservation, landscape restoration, soil carbon sequestration in cropping, pasture and forestry systems and nitrogen management in cropping and pasture systems, phosphorus and zinc nutrition, soil constraints including sodicity and salinity

  • Crop and Pasture Production

    Sustainable crop rotations, sustainable pasture production systems, crop and pasture rotations, crop and pasture nutrition, fertiliser use and nutrient use efficiency, water use efficiency

  • Greenhouse Gases Mitigation

    Carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane emissions and uptake in soil-plant systems, carbon sequestration

Research impacts

My research programs created or contributed significantly to create awareness in the rural, scientific and general community in Queensland, nationwide and internationally to the seriousness and insidious nature of land degradation, carbon loss, sustainability indicators and landscape processes that lead among others, to poor soil and land quality, fertility decline and stream and groundwater quality deterioration. For the last 25 years, landscape restoration, soil organic matter management, carbon sequestration and nitrogen management, and site-specific management for soil and subsoil and other constraints and sustainable crop and pasture rotations and vegetation management have been the central research platforms across cropping, rangelands and forestry ecosystems. The international nature of the program is demonstrated by the fact that it was one of only two sites listed from Australia with the International Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Program. The Fertility Restoration Site of this program was frequently visited by national and international scientists.

Policy makers and politicians now nationally recognize that land degradation, carbon loss and landscape degradation processes lead to deteriorating water quality, and that sustainable land, vegetation and water use, and greenhouse gas mitigation and climate change are the state and national priorities. These projects have been pioneer in Australia in these fields and made significant contribution towards resolving these issues, and provided impetus to initiating similar studies in Australia and worldwide.

Search Professor Ram Dalal AM’s works on UQ eSpace

314 works between 1972 and 2025
All (314) Journal Article (267) Book Chapter (12) Conference Publication (31) Book (3) Other Outputs (1)

41 - 60 of 314 works

2021

Journal Article

50 years of continuous no-tillage, stubble retention and nitrogen fertilization enhanced macro-aggregate formation and stabilisation in a Vertisol

Hati, Kuntal M., Jha, Pramod, Dalal, Ram C., Jayaraman, Somasundaram, Dang, Yash P., Kopittke, Peter M., Kirchhof, Gunnar and Menzies, Neal W. (2021). 50 years of continuous no-tillage, stubble retention and nitrogen fertilization enhanced macro-aggregate formation and stabilisation in a Vertisol. Soil and Tillage Research, 214 105163, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.still.2021.105163

50 years of continuous no-tillage, stubble retention and nitrogen fertilization enhanced macro-aggregate formation and stabilisation in a Vertisol

2021

Journal Article

Conservation agriculture as a system to enhance ecosystem services

Jayaraman, Somasundaram, Dang, Yash P., Naorem, Anandkumar, Page, Kathryn L. and Dalal, Ram C. (2021). Conservation agriculture as a system to enhance ecosystem services. Agriculture, 11 (8) 718, 718. doi: 10.3390/agriculture11080718

Conservation agriculture as a system to enhance ecosystem services

2021

Journal Article

Soil organic carbon is significantly associated with the pore geometry, microbial diversity and enzyme activity of the macro-aggregates under different land uses

Bhattacharyya, Ranjan, Rabbi, Sheikh M.F., Zhang, Yaqi, Young, Iain M., Jones, Andrew R., Dennis, Paul G., Menzies, Neal W., Kopittke, Peter M. and Dalal, Ram C. (2021). Soil organic carbon is significantly associated with the pore geometry, microbial diversity and enzyme activity of the macro-aggregates under different land uses. Science of the Total Environment, 778 146286, 1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146286

Soil organic carbon is significantly associated with the pore geometry, microbial diversity and enzyme activity of the macro-aggregates under different land uses

2021

Journal Article

Long-term changes in land use influence phosphorus concentrations, speciation, and cycling within subtropical soils

Zhang, Yaqi, Finn, Damien, Bhattacharyya, Ranjan, Dennis, Paul G., Doolette, Ashlea L., Smernik, Ronald J., Dalal, Ram C., Meyer, Gregor, Lombi, Enzo, Klysubun, Wantana, Jones, Andrew R., Wang, Peng, Menzies, Neal W. and Kopittke, Peter M. (2021). Long-term changes in land use influence phosphorus concentrations, speciation, and cycling within subtropical soils. Geoderma, 393 115010, 1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.geoderma.2021.115010

Long-term changes in land use influence phosphorus concentrations, speciation, and cycling within subtropical soils

2021

Journal Article

Corrigendum to “Puddled and zero-till unpuddled transplanted rice are each best suited to different environments – An example from two diverse locations in the Eastern Gangetic Plains of Bangladesh” [Field Crops Res. 262 (2021) 108031] (Field Crops Research (2021) 262, (S0378429020313150), (10.1016/j.fcr.2020.108031))

Chaki, Apurbo K., Gaydon, Donald S., Dalal, Ram C., Bellotti, William D., Gathala, Mahesh K., Hossain, Akbar, Siddquie, Nur-E-Alam and Menzies, Neal W. (2021). Corrigendum to “Puddled and zero-till unpuddled transplanted rice are each best suited to different environments – An example from two diverse locations in the Eastern Gangetic Plains of Bangladesh” [Field Crops Res. 262 (2021) 108031] (Field Crops Research (2021) 262, (S0378429020313150), (10.1016/j.fcr.2020.108031)). Field Crops Research, 267 108151. doi: 10.1016/j.fcr.2021.108151

Corrigendum to “Puddled and zero-till unpuddled transplanted rice are each best suited to different environments – An example from two diverse locations in the Eastern Gangetic Plains of Bangladesh” [Field Crops Res. 262 (2021) 108031] (Field Crops Research (2021) 262, (S0378429020313150), (10.1016/j.fcr.2020.108031))

2021

Journal Article

Modeling the organic carbon dynamics in long-term fertilizer experiments of India using the Rothamsted carbon model

Jha, Pramod, Lakaria, Brij Lal, Vishwakarma, A. K., Wanjari, R. H., Mohanty, M., Sinha, Nishant K, Somasundaram, J., Dheri, G. S., Dwivedi, A. K., Sharma, Raj Paul, Singh, Muneshwar, Dalal, R. C., Biswas, A. K., Patra, A. K. and Chaudhari, S. K. (2021). Modeling the organic carbon dynamics in long-term fertilizer experiments of India using the Rothamsted carbon model. Ecological Modelling, 450 109562, 109562. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2021.109562

Modeling the organic carbon dynamics in long-term fertilizer experiments of India using the Rothamsted carbon model

2021

Journal Article

A study over 33 years shows that carbon and nitrogen stocks in a subtropical soil are increasing under native vegetation in a changing climate

Dalal, Ram C., Thornton, Craig M., Allen, Diane E. and Kopittke, Peter M. (2021). A study over 33 years shows that carbon and nitrogen stocks in a subtropical soil are increasing under native vegetation in a changing climate. Science of the Total Environment, 772 145019, 1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145019

A study over 33 years shows that carbon and nitrogen stocks in a subtropical soil are increasing under native vegetation in a changing climate

2021

Journal Article

Disease-suppressive soils—beyond food production: a critical review

Jayaraman, Somasundaram, Naorem, A. K., Lal, Rattan, Dalal, Ram C., Sinha, N. K., Patra, A. K. and Chaudhari, S. K. (2021). Disease-suppressive soils—beyond food production: a critical review. Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 21 (2), 1437-1465. doi: 10.1007/s42729-021-00451-x

Disease-suppressive soils—beyond food production: a critical review

2021

Journal Article

Review of crop‐specific tolerance limits to acidity, salinity and sodicity for seventeen cereal, pulse, and oilseed crops common to rainfed subtropical cropping systems

Page, Kathryn L., Dang, Yash P., Martinez, Cristina, Dalal, Ram C., Wehr, J. Bernhard, Kopittke, Peter M., Orton, Thomas G. and Menzies, Neal W. (2021). Review of crop‐specific tolerance limits to acidity, salinity and sodicity for seventeen cereal, pulse, and oilseed crops common to rainfed subtropical cropping systems. Land Degradation and Development, 32 (8), 2459-2480. doi: 10.1002/ldr.3915

Review of crop‐specific tolerance limits to acidity, salinity and sodicity for seventeen cereal, pulse, and oilseed crops common to rainfed subtropical cropping systems

2021

Journal Article

Long-term land use change in Australia from native forest decreases all fractions of soil organic carbon, including resistant organic carbon, for cropping but not sown pasture

Dalal, Ram C., Thornton, Craig M., Allen, Diane E., Owens, Jo S. and Kopittke, Peter M. (2021). Long-term land use change in Australia from native forest decreases all fractions of soil organic carbon, including resistant organic carbon, for cropping but not sown pasture. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 311 107326, 107326. doi: 10.1016/j.agee.2021.107326

Long-term land use change in Australia from native forest decreases all fractions of soil organic carbon, including resistant organic carbon, for cropping but not sown pasture

2021

Journal Article

Conservation agriculture enhances the rice-wheat system of the Eastern Gangetic Plains in some environments, but not in others

Chaki, Apurbo K., Gaydon, Donald S., Dalal, Ram C., Bellotti, William D., Gathala, Mahesh K., Hossain, Akbar, Rahman, Mohammad A. and Menzies, Neal W. (2021). Conservation agriculture enhances the rice-wheat system of the Eastern Gangetic Plains in some environments, but not in others. Field Crops Research, 265 108109, 108109. doi: 10.1016/j.fcr.2021.108109

Conservation agriculture enhances the rice-wheat system of the Eastern Gangetic Plains in some environments, but not in others

2021

Journal Article

Puddled and zero-till unpuddled transplanted rice are each best suited to different environments – An example from two diverse locations in the Eastern Gangetic Plains of Bangladesh

Chaki, Apurbo K., Gaydon, Donald S., Dalal, Ram C., Bellotti, William D., Gathala, Mahesh K., Hossain, Akbar, Siddquie, Nur-E-Alam and Menzies, Neal W. (2021). Puddled and zero-till unpuddled transplanted rice are each best suited to different environments – An example from two diverse locations in the Eastern Gangetic Plains of Bangladesh. Field Crops Research, 262 108031, 1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.fcr.2020.108031

Puddled and zero-till unpuddled transplanted rice are each best suited to different environments – An example from two diverse locations in the Eastern Gangetic Plains of Bangladesh

2021

Journal Article

Effect of long-term no-tillage and nitrogen fertilization on phosphorus distribution in bulk soil and aggregates of a Vertisol

Zhang, Yaqi, Dalal, Ram C., Bhattacharyya, Ranjan, Meyer, Gregor, Wang, Peng, Menzies, Neal W. and Kopittke, Peter M. (2021). Effect of long-term no-tillage and nitrogen fertilization on phosphorus distribution in bulk soil and aggregates of a Vertisol. Soil and Tillage Research, 205 104760, 104760. doi: 10.1016/j.still.2020.104760

Effect of long-term no-tillage and nitrogen fertilization on phosphorus distribution in bulk soil and aggregates of a Vertisol

2021

Book Chapter

Chickpea

Singh, Vijaya, Chauhan, Yashvir, Dalal, Ram and Schmidt, Susanne (2021). Chickpea. The Beans and the Peas: From Orphan to Mainstream Crops. (pp. 173-215) edited by Aditya Pratap and Sanjeev Gupta. Kidlington, United Kingdom: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-821450-3.00003-2

Chickpea

2021

Journal Article

The role of soil in defining planetary boundaries and the safe operating space for humanity

Kopittke, Peter M., Menzies, Neal W., Dalal, Ram C., McKenna, Brigid A., Husted, Søren, Wang, Peng and Lombi, Enzo (2021). The role of soil in defining planetary boundaries and the safe operating space for humanity. Environment International, 146 106245, 1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.106245

The role of soil in defining planetary boundaries and the safe operating space for humanity

2021

Book

Conservation agriculture: a sustainable approach for soil health and food security: conservation agriculture for sustainable agriculture

Somasundaram Jayaraman, Ram C. Dalal, Ashok K. Patra and Suresh K. Chaudhari eds. (2021). Conservation agriculture: a sustainable approach for soil health and food security: conservation agriculture for sustainable agriculture. Gateway East, Singapore: Springer Nature. doi: 10.1007/978-981-16-0827-8

Conservation agriculture: a sustainable approach for soil health and food security: conservation agriculture for sustainable agriculture

2020

Journal Article

Conservation tillage, residue management, and crop rotation effects on soil major and micro-nutrients in semi-arid vertisols of India

Jayaraman, Somasundaram, Sinha, N. K., Mohanty, M., Hati, K. M., Chaudhary, R. S., Shukla, A. K., Shirale, A. O., Neenu, S., Naorem, A. K., Rashmi, I., Biswas, A. K., Patra, A. K., Srinivasa Rao, Ch. and Dalal, Ram C. (2020). Conservation tillage, residue management, and crop rotation effects on soil major and micro-nutrients in semi-arid vertisols of India. Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 21 (1), 523-535. doi: 10.1007/s42729-020-00380-1

Conservation tillage, residue management, and crop rotation effects on soil major and micro-nutrients in semi-arid vertisols of India

2020

Journal Article

The impact, identification and management of dispersive soils in rainfed cropping systems

Page, Kathryn L., Dang, Yash P., Dalal, Ram C., Kopittke, Peter M. and Menzies, Neal W. (2020). The impact, identification and management of dispersive soils in rainfed cropping systems. European Journal of Soil Science, 72 (4), 1655-1674. doi: 10.1111/ejss.13070

The impact, identification and management of dispersive soils in rainfed cropping systems

2020

Journal Article

Soil carbon sequestration potential in a Vertisol in central India- results from a 43-year long-term experiment and APSIM modeling

Mohanty, M., Sinha, Nishant K., Somasundaram, J., McDermid, Sonali S., Patra, Ashok K., Singh, Muneshwar, Dwivedi, A. K., Reddy, K. Sammi, Rao, Ch. Srinivas, Prabhakar, M., Hati, K. M., Jha, P., Singh, R. K., Chaudhary, R. S., Kumar, Soora Naresh, Tripathi, Prabhat, Dalal, Ram C., Gaydon, Donald S. and Chaudhari, S. K. (2020). Soil carbon sequestration potential in a Vertisol in central India- results from a 43-year long-term experiment and APSIM modeling. Agricultural Systems, 184 102906, 102906. doi: 10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102906

Soil carbon sequestration potential in a Vertisol in central India- results from a 43-year long-term experiment and APSIM modeling

2020

Journal Article

Plant roots are more important than temperature in modulating carbon release in a limed acidic soil

Ahmad, W., Dijkstra, F. A., Dalal, R. C. and Singh, B. (2020). Plant roots are more important than temperature in modulating carbon release in a limed acidic soil. European Journal of Soil Science, 71 (4), 727-739. doi: 10.1111/ejss.12899

Plant roots are more important than temperature in modulating carbon release in a limed acidic soil

Current funding

  • 2024 - 2027
    Role of nitrogen-rich compounds for increasing carbon sequestration in soil
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2024 - 2028
    Enhancing soil health and climate resilience in the Northern Territory
    Climate-Smart Agriculture Program ¿ Capacity Building
    Open grant
  • 2024 - 2027
    Mineral Biosequestration of Organic Carbon in Early Pedogenesis of Tailings
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2025
    Phosphorus in soil used for long-term agriculture: Increasing efficiency and food production
    Soil Science Challenge
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2022 - 2024
    Improving the drought resilience of Queensland cropping soils by removing barriers to the identification and management of soil constraints
    Future Drought Fund: Drought Resilient Soils and Landscapes Grants
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2023
    Carbon ID: A remote sensing decision support tool to identify the impact of agricultural land management on soil carbon stock
    Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2024
    Breaking critical barriers in soil formation of bauxite residues
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2022
    Economics of ameliorating soil constraints in the Northern Region: Spatial soil constraint diagnoses in the northern region (Project A)
    Grains Research & Development Corporation
    Open grant

Availability

Adjunct Professor Ram Dalal AM is:
Available for supervision

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Available projects

  • Sustainable and resilient farming systems intensification in the eastern Gangetic plains

    The overall aim of the project is to reduce poverty in the eastern Gangetic plains by improving the productivity, profitability and sustainability of smallholder agriculture.

    The project has four objectives that will lead towards sustainable and resilient farming systems intensification in the EGP:

    1. Understand farmer circumstances with respect to cropping systems, natural and economic resources base, livelihood strategies, and capacity to bear risk and undertake technological innovation.

    2. Develop, with farmers more productive and sustainable technologies that are resilient and profitable for smallholders.

    3. Catalyse, support and evaluate institutional and policy changes that establish an enabling environment for the adoption of high-impact technologies from Objective 2.

    4. Facilitate widespread adoption of sustainable, resilient and more profitable farming systems.

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Mechanisms driving the persistence of soil organic matter

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Peter Kopittke

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Exploring the influence of long-term land use change on the chemical speciation of C, S and P in SOM fractions isolated using density and physical fractionation

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Brigid McKenna, Dr Tim McLaren, Professor Peter Kopittke

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Understanding the mechanisms of general disease suppressiveness in organic fields

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Peter Kopittke

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Ameliorating soil constraints using inorganic and organic amendments under rainfed conditions

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Bernhard Wehr, Dr Yash Dang

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Dynamics of Soil Organic Matter: Storage, Composition, and Responses to Land Use Change

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Han Weng, Professor Peter Kopittke

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Understanding the mechanisms of general disease suppressiveness in organic fields

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Peter Kopittke

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Dynamics of Soil Organic Matter: Storage, Composition, and Responses to Land Use Change

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Han Weng, Professor Peter Kopittke

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Organic matter decomposition and turnover in rhizobiomes of bauxite residue technosols

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Longbin Huang, Dr Fang You

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Ameliorating soil constraints using inorganic and organic amendments under rainfed conditions

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Bernhard Wehr, Dr Yash Dang

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Understanding the mechanisms of general disease suppressiveness in organic fields

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Peter Kopittke

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Investigating the Impact of Fungal Activity on Soil Carbon Dynamics - Tracing Carbon Fluxes Across Plant-Fungi-Mineral Networks

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Vijaya Singh

Completed supervision

Enquiries

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