New Age Soil Physics

B P Ghildyal obtained B.Sc. (Ag.) in 1945, M.Sc. (Ag.) in 1947 and D. Phil. in 1950. He did his post-doctoral work in soil physics, irrigation and drainage at the University of Illinois, US Salinity Laboratory, Colorado State University, Utah State University and US Department of Agriculture. He was Assistant Professor (1951) at the Government Agricultural College, Kanpur; Head, Soil Science, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (1956); Professor and Head, Department of Soil Science (1968) and Dean of College of Agriculture (1976) at the G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar.

He was elevated to the Chair of Professor of Eminence in 1979, heading the National Centre for Research in Soil-Water-Plant relations. In 1982 he joined the Ford Foundation, New Delhi as Program Officer in Agricultural Research and IRRI Scientist.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research honoured him by awarding the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Memorial Prize for the biennium 1970-71 in recognition of his significant contribution to the understanding of the physical environment of rice plant. He has over 35 years of teaching experience and has guided over 25 PhD students and published more than 150 research papers in Indian and international journals.