The Soils of Nepal

This book publishes consolidated information on the soils of Nepal from all possible sources. The Survey Department, Government of Nepal, conducted two national scale soil survey projects to classify soils of Nepal (Land Resource Mapping Project ended in 1985, and National Land Use Planning Project ended in 2021). Both projects adopted the United States Department of Agriculture system of soil classification. Besides, National Soil Science Research Center (previously known as Soil Science Division) of Nepal Agricultural Research Council and Soil Management Directorate, Department of Agriculture, also worked on soils of Nepal. To date, the information on the soils of Nepal is not published in well-documented form but has been reported widely as gray literature (project report or government report) or peer-review articles.

'The Soils of Nepal’ is a part of ‘World Soils Book Series’ which constitutes twelve chapters—covering broad aspects such as soil research history, climate, geology, soil classification and mapping, and soil fertility. Furthermore, information about soil properties and relation between soil constituents of the dominant soil types of Nepal and their scope of use in the context of land use are described. This book also tries to simplify the intricate relationship among soil, culture, and people. Each chapter contains a comprehensive, richly illustrated, and up-to-date overview of the soils of Nepal. We believe it fulfils a quest for a global audience including students, educators, extension workers, and soil scientists, who are interested to know the young soils of Nepal.

Roshan Babu Ojha (M. Sc. Ag., 2014; B. Sc. Ag., 2012 Tribhuvan University), a Ph. D. candidate at the University of New England Australia, is a soil scientist to the National Soil Science Research Centre, Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) since 2015. Before joining NARC, he worked as an assistant professor at Purwanchal University and teaches several courses of soil science. Soil fertility, soil carbon, and pedology are his field of expertise. As a national focal point from Nepal, he represented the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) program of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UNFAO), Rome, Italy from 2016 to 2018. He is an awardee of ‘Young Scientist’ award (2017) presented by Society of Agriculture Innovation and Development, India and ‘Outstanding Contribution Scientist in Soil Conservation’ award (2018) jointly presented by the GSP, UNFAO, Italy and the organizing committee of soil health and sustainable development international symposium, China. Realising the immense potentiality of soils in our life, he is keen to learn and share soil science language to the scientific and local community. Besides, he is fond of having expeditions and excursions, tasting new foods, triumphing with nature, and understanding people and culture.

Dinesh Panday is a Post-doctoral Research Associate at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, United States since 2020. He completed his undergraduate studies at Tribhuvan University (B. Sc. Ag., 2012) in Nepal and went on to graduate studies in Environmental Sciences at Lincoln University of Missouri (M.S., 2015) and Soil and Water Sciences at University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Ph.D., 2020) in the United States. Soil fertility, soil nitrogen, biogeochemistry, greenhouse gas emissions, and digital soil mapping are his field of expertise. He received Alltech Young Scientist Awards in 2010, 2011 and 2012. He also received 2018 Maize-Asia Youth Innovators Awards, organizedby CGIAR Research Program on Maize and Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD). He serves as Coordinator at Maize Youth Task Force and Communication officer at YPARD Asia and Pacific region. He also serves as an Editor in Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal and Reviewer in many journals, including Nature Scientific Reports, Journal of Environmental Quality, Agronomy Journal, PLoS ONE and Remote Sensing. As a researcher, he is interested in deeper understanding of soil biogeochemical controls of greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate carbon footprint of agricultural systems. He is fond of music, travel, and nature.