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)

61 - 80 of 314 works

2020

Journal Article

Impact of land use change and soil type on total phosphorus and its fractions in soil aggregates

Zhang, Yaqi, Bhattacharyya, Ranjan, Dalal, Ram C., Wang, Peng, Menzies, Neal W. and Kopittke, Peter M. (2020). Impact of land use change and soil type on total phosphorus and its fractions in soil aggregates. Land Degradation and Development, 31 (7) ldr.3501, 828-841. doi: 10.1002/ldr.3501

Impact of land use change and soil type on total phosphorus and its fractions in soil aggregates

2020

Journal Article

Land use affects temperature sensitivity of soil organic carbon decomposition in macroaggregates but not in bulk soils in subtropical Oxisols of Queensland, Australia

Bhattacharyya, Ranjan, Ghosh, Avijit, Zhang, Yaqi, Dalal, Ram C., Kopittke, Peter M., Jones, Andrew and Menzies, Neal W. (2020). Land use affects temperature sensitivity of soil organic carbon decomposition in macroaggregates but not in bulk soils in subtropical Oxisols of Queensland, Australia. Soil and Tillage Research, 198 104566, 104566. doi: 10.1016/j.still.2019.104566

Land use affects temperature sensitivity of soil organic carbon decomposition in macroaggregates but not in bulk soils in subtropical Oxisols of Queensland, Australia

2020

Journal Article

The ability of conservation agriculture to conserve soil organic carbon and the subsequent impact on soil physical, chemical, and biological properties and yield

Page, Kathryn Louise, Dang, Yash P. and Dalal, Ram C. (2020). The ability of conservation agriculture to conserve soil organic carbon and the subsequent impact on soil physical, chemical, and biological properties and yield. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 4 31. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2020.00031

The ability of conservation agriculture to conserve soil organic carbon and the subsequent impact on soil physical, chemical, and biological properties and yield

2020

Journal Article

Soil carbon and nitrogen pools, their depth distribution and stocks following plantation establishment in south east Queensland, Australia

Wehr, J. Bernhard, Lewis, Tom, Dalal, Ram C., Menzies, Neal W., Verstraten, Luke, Swift, Scott, Bryant, Philippa, Tindale, Neil and Smith, Tim E. (2020). Soil carbon and nitrogen pools, their depth distribution and stocks following plantation establishment in south east Queensland, Australia. Forest Ecology and Management, 457 117708, 117708. doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117708

Soil carbon and nitrogen pools, their depth distribution and stocks following plantation establishment in south east Queensland, Australia

2020

Journal Article

Soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in a Vertisol following 50 years of no-tillage, crop stubble retention and nitrogen fertilization

Jha, Pramod, Hati, K. M., Dalal, Ram C., Dang, Yash P., Kopittke, Peter M. and Menzies, Neal W. (2020). Soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in a Vertisol following 50 years of no-tillage, crop stubble retention and nitrogen fertilization. Geoderma, 358 113996, 113996. doi: 10.1016/j.geoderma.2019.113996

Soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in a Vertisol following 50 years of no-tillage, crop stubble retention and nitrogen fertilization

2020

Journal Article

Changes in soil organic carbon and nitrogen after 47 years with different tillage, stubble and fertiliser management in a Vertisol of north-eastern Australia

Page, K. L., Dalal, R. C., Reeves, S. H., Wang, W. J., Jayaraman, Somasundaram and Dang, Y. P. (2020). Changes in soil organic carbon and nitrogen after 47 years with different tillage, stubble and fertiliser management in a Vertisol of north-eastern Australia. Soil Research, 58 (4), 346-355. doi: 10.1071/sr19314

Changes in soil organic carbon and nitrogen after 47 years with different tillage, stubble and fertiliser management in a Vertisol of north-eastern Australia

2020

Book Chapter

No-till farming systems for sustainable agriculture: an overview

Dang, Yash P., Page, Kathryn L., Dalal, Ram C. and Menzies, Neal W. (2020). No-till farming systems for sustainable agriculture: an overview. No-till farming systems for sustainable agriculture: challenges and opportunities. (pp. 3-20) edited by Yash P. Dang, Ram C. Dalal and Neal W. Menzies. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-46409-7_1

No-till farming systems for sustainable agriculture: an overview

2020

Book Chapter

No-Till Farming Systems in South Asia

Jayaraman, Somasundaram, Naorem, Anandkumar, Lal, Rattan, Dalal, Ram C. and Patra, Ashok K. (2020). No-Till Farming Systems in South Asia. No-till Farming Systems for Sustainable Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities. (pp. 459-476) Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-46409-7_26

No-Till Farming Systems in South Asia

2020

Journal Article

Soil organic matter is stabilized by organo-mineral associations through two key processes: the role of the carbon to nitrogen ratio

Kopittke, Peter M., Dalal, Ram C., Hoeschen, Carmen, Li, Cui, Menzies, Neal W. and Mueller, Carsten W. (2020). Soil organic matter is stabilized by organo-mineral associations through two key processes: the role of the carbon to nitrogen ratio. Geoderma, 357 113974, 113974. doi: 10.1016/j.geoderma.2019.113974

Soil organic matter is stabilized by organo-mineral associations through two key processes: the role of the carbon to nitrogen ratio

2020

Journal Article

No-till farming and conservation agriculture in South Asia – Issues, challenges, prospects and benefits

Somasundaram, J., Sinha, N. K., Dalal, Ram C., Lal, Rattan, Mohanty, M., Naorem, A. K., Hati, K. M., Chaudhary, R. S., Biswas, A. K., Patra, A. K. and Chaudhari, S. K. (2020). No-till farming and conservation agriculture in South Asia – Issues, challenges, prospects and benefits. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences, 39 (3), 236-279. doi: 10.1080/07352689.2020.1782069

No-till farming and conservation agriculture in South Asia – Issues, challenges, prospects and benefits

2020

Book Chapter

No-till systems to sequester soil carbon: potential and reality

Page, Kathryn L., Dang, Yash P., Menzies, Neal W. and Dalal, Ram C. (2020). No-till systems to sequester soil carbon: potential and reality. No-till farming systems for sustainable agriculture: challenges and opportunities. (pp. 301-317) edited by Yash P. Dang, Ram C. Dalal and Neal W. Menzies. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-46409-7_18

No-till systems to sequester soil carbon: potential and reality

2019

Journal Article

Changes in soil water storage with no-tillage and crop residue retention on a Vertisol: impact on productivity and profitability over a 50 year period

Page, Kathryn L., Dang, Yash P., Dalal, R. C., Reeves, Steven, Thomas, Greg, Wang, Weijin and Thompson, John P. (2019). Changes in soil water storage with no-tillage and crop residue retention on a Vertisol: impact on productivity and profitability over a 50 year period. Soil and Tillage Research, 194 104319, 104319. doi: 10.1016/j.still.2019.104319

Changes in soil water storage with no-tillage and crop residue retention on a Vertisol: impact on productivity and profitability over a 50 year period

2019

Journal Article

Tillage history and crop residue input enhanced native carbon mineralisation and nutrient supply in contrasting soils under long-term farming systems

Sarker, Jharna Rani, Singh, Bhupinder Pal, Fang, Yunying, Cowie, Annette L., Dougherty, Warwick J., Collins, Damian, Dalal, Ram C. and Singh, Brajesh K. (2019). Tillage history and crop residue input enhanced native carbon mineralisation and nutrient supply in contrasting soils under long-term farming systems. Soil and Tillage Research, 193, 71-84. doi: 10.1016/j.still.2019.05.027

Tillage history and crop residue input enhanced native carbon mineralisation and nutrient supply in contrasting soils under long-term farming systems

2019

Journal Article

Drying and rewetting effects on organic matter mineralisation of contrasting soils after 36 years of storage

Jones, Andrew R., Gupta, Vadakattu V. S. R., Buckley, Scott, Brackin, Richard, Schmidt, Susanne and Dalal, Ram C. (2019). Drying and rewetting effects on organic matter mineralisation of contrasting soils after 36 years of storage. Geoderma, 342, 12-19. doi: 10.1016/j.geoderma.2019.01.053

Drying and rewetting effects on organic matter mineralisation of contrasting soils after 36 years of storage

2019

Journal Article

Effect of soil aggregate size and long-term contrasting tillage, stubble and nitrogen management regimes on CO2 fluxes from a Vertisol

Reeves, S. H., Somasundaram, J., Wang, W. J., Heenan, M. A., Finn, D. and Dalal, R. C. (2019). Effect of soil aggregate size and long-term contrasting tillage, stubble and nitrogen management regimes on CO2 fluxes from a Vertisol. Geoderma, 337, 1086-1096. doi: 10.1016/j.geoderma.2018.11.022

Effect of soil aggregate size and long-term contrasting tillage, stubble and nitrogen management regimes on CO2 fluxes from a Vertisol

2019

Journal Article

Conservation agriculture effects on soil properties and crop productivity in a semiarid region of India

Somasundaram, J., Salikram, M., Sinha, N. K., Mohanty, M., Chaudhary, R. S., Dalal, R. C., Mitra, N. G., Blaise, D., Coumar, M. V., Hati, K. M., Thakur, J. K., Neenu, S., Biswas, A. K., Patra, A. K. and Chaudhari, S. K. (2019). Conservation agriculture effects on soil properties and crop productivity in a semiarid region of India. Soil Research, 57 (2), 187-199. doi: 10.1071/sr18145

Conservation agriculture effects on soil properties and crop productivity in a semiarid region of India

2019

Journal Article

Reforestation of agricultural land in the tropics: The relative contribution of soil, living biomass and debris pools to carbon sequestration

Lewis, Tom, Verstraten, Luke, Hogg, Bruce, Wehr, Bernhard J., Swift, Scott, Tindale, Neil, Menzies, Neal W., Dalal, Ram C., Bryant, Philippa, Francis, Ben and Smith, Timothy E. (2019). Reforestation of agricultural land in the tropics: The relative contribution of soil, living biomass and debris pools to carbon sequestration. Science of the Total Environment, 649, 1502-1513. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.351

Reforestation of agricultural land in the tropics: The relative contribution of soil, living biomass and debris pools to carbon sequestration

2019

Journal Article

Trends in key soil parameters under conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification farming practices in the Eastern Ganga Alluvial Plains

Sinha, A. K., Ghosh, A., Dhar, T., Bhattacharya, P. M., Mitra, B., Rakesh, S., Paneru, P., Shrestha, S. R., Manandhar, S., Beura, K., Dutta, S., Pradhan, A. K., Rao, K. K., Hossain, Akbar, Siddquie, N., Molla, M. S. H., Chaki, A. K., Gathala, M. K., Islam, M. S., Dalal, R. C., Gaydon, D. S., Laing, A. M. and Menzies, N. W. (2019). Trends in key soil parameters under conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification farming practices in the Eastern Ganga Alluvial Plains. Soil Research, 57 (8), 883-893. doi: 10.1071/sr19162

Trends in key soil parameters under conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification farming practices in the Eastern Ganga Alluvial Plains

2019

Conference Publication

Effects of pesticides on nitrous oxide production from sugarcane cropping soils

Das, Shilpi, Wang, W., Reeves, S., Dalal, Ram C. and Kopittke, Peter M. (2019). Effects of pesticides on nitrous oxide production from sugarcane cropping soils. TropAg 2019, Brisbane, Australia, 11-13 November 2019. Basel Switzerland: MDPI. doi: 10.3390/proceedings2019036038

Effects of pesticides on nitrous oxide production from sugarcane cropping soils

2019

Conference Publication

Greenhouse gas implications of leucaena-based pastures. Can we develop an emissions reduction methodology for the beef industry?

Tomkins, Nigel, Harrison, Matthew, McSweeney, Chris S., Denman, Stuart, Charmley, Ed, Lambrides, Christopher J. and Dalal, Ram (2019). Greenhouse gas implications of leucaena-based pastures. Can we develop an emissions reduction methodology for the beef industry?. International Leucaena Conference (ILC), Brisbane, Australia, 29 October - 3 November 2018. Cali, Colombia: International Center for Tropical Agriculture. doi: 10.17138/TGFT(7)267-272

Greenhouse gas implications of leucaena-based pastures. Can we develop an emissions reduction methodology for the beef industry?

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

    Organic matter decomposition and turnover in rhizobiomes of bauxite residue technosols

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Longbin Huang, Dr Fang You

  • 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

    Ameliorating soil constraints using inorganic and organic amendments under rainfed conditions

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Bernhard Wehr, Dr Yash Dang

  • 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

    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

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Mechanisms driving the persistence of soil organic matter

    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

    Understanding the mechanisms of general disease suppressiveness in organic fields

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: 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

Completed supervision

Enquiries

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