Soil-Plant Nutrient Interactions Research Group

The research in Dr. Haider’s group focuses on two major challenges faced by world agriculture,for instance, global climate change, and food insecurity. The anthropogenic greenhouse gases(GHG) emissions are the leading forces of climate change and weather extremes which areadversely affecting crop production systems. The assessment of climate change factors andmitigation strategies like carbon capture (photosynthesis) and deposition as biochar (stablecarbon obtained by the pyrolysis of organic residues) are strategies under investigation to improve soil carbon sequestration and to reduce GHG emission. Soil plant nutrient and microbial interactions are crucial to understanding for better soil fertility management and crop production. How global change factors like altered precipitation regimes and droughts may alter plant resources, soil microbial activity, and GHG emissions. To understand this, soil microbial diversity must be examined more closely. So far, little is known that how and which microorganisms have connections and interactions with nutrient (specifically nitrogen) transformation, GHG (oxides of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane) production and plant ecophysiology. Thus, we aim to improve the mechanistic understanding of underlying processes for better soil management, crop production system, and climate change mitigation.

Focus areas:

1. Plant nutrition and ecophysiology
2. Soil microbiology
3. Carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation strategies

Current Project:

1. Carbon Fertilizers for reducing greenhouse gas emission and improving food security

Research Funding:

A joint project beween NUST, Pakistan (Dr. Ghulam Haider) and Hochschule Geisenheim University, Germany (Prof. Dr. Claudia I Kammann). Project worth 119000/- Euros for three years (2018-2020). The last year of Project (2020-2021 delayed because of Covid-19 lock-down) will be executed at NUST Pakistan

Selected Publications:

1. Haider, G., Koyro, H., Azam, F. et al. Biochar but not humic acid product amendment affected maize yields via improving plant-soil moisture relations. Plant Soil 395, 141–157 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2294-3
2.  Haider, Ghulam, et al. “Biochar reduced nitrate leaching and improved soil moisture contentwithout yield improvements in a four-year field study.” Agriculture, ecosystems & environment 237 (2017): 80-94.
3. Haider, Ghulam, et al. “Biochar reduced nitrate leaching and improved soil moisture content
4. Qayyum, Muhammad Farooq, et al. “Different nitrogen and biochar sources’ application in an alkaline calcareous soil improved the maize yield and soil nitrogen retention.” Arabian Journal of Geosciences 12.21 (2019): 664.
5. Haider, Ghulam, et al. “Performance and nitrogen use of wheat cultivars in response to application of allelopathic crop residues and 3, 4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate.” International Journal of Agriculture and Biology 17.2 (2015).
6. Haider, Ghulam, et al. “Standard extraction methods may underestimate nitrate stocks captured by field‐aged biochar.” Journal of Environmental Quality 45.4 (2016): 1196-120