Rattan Lal博士是世界著名的土壤科学家，是2020年世界食品奖Laureate。He will be honored this October for his innovative research approach and advocacy of sustainable soil management.
Lal’s work involves developing a soil-centric approach to increasing food production that not only restores and conserves natural resources, but mitigates climate change. His research and development of soil-saving techniques have benefitted millions of small scale farmers, improved food and nutritional security of more than two billion people, and saved hundreds of millions of hectares of natural tropical ecosystems.
Growing up on a small farm in India, Lal witnessed the challenges of plowing land. His experiences on a subsistence farm first inspired his curiosity about soil health. He became committed to researching soil, and completed his Master in Science at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute and his Ph.D. in Soils at The Ohio State University.
拉尔（Lal）在世界各地都在研究热带土壤。在每个国家，他发现农民遇到土壤降解问题，就像他曾经的那样。通过营养不足的农业实践和农业种植，将土壤暴露于热带气候中，即使是高产的农作物品种也无法发挥其全部增长潜力。
拉尔告诉食品坦克说：“在全球范围内，我们开始意识到，精英种子在健康的土壤中生长，除非它在健康的土壤中生长。”w88优德老虎机平台
His innovative research found that soil organic matter and carbon is essential to sustaining food production. He went on to develop and promote agriculture techniques that focus on building soil’s physical health and replenishing organic matter within the soil.
这些做法包括覆盖，盖子作品，无耕作和农林业，可保护土壤免受元素的影响，并将碳和有机物归还土壤。他的研究甚至表明，仅肥料和灌溉不能增加产量。据LAL称，当将肥料和灌溉水的30％应用于碳土壤中时，实际上只有30％的水到达农作物。
Lal’s research revealed that increasing soil carbon not only improves soil health, but it can also be a way to mitigate climate change. Soils can sequester atmospheric carbon at rates of 2.6 gigatons per year, according to a paper he published in 2004 inScience。
作为俄亥俄州立大学的碳管理和隔离中心的创始董事，他制定了一项计划，其主要目标是研究和倡导气候硫化农业。他坚信，农业在减缓气候变化方面具有主要作用。
拉尔一直是健康土壤法案的不懈倡导者，这将为农民提供优化土地利用而不是最大化生产。“我们生产3亿吨谷物，估计浪费了10亿吨，”拉尔告诉食品坦克。w88优德老虎机平台拉尔通过补偿农民的管理土地，认为农业可以成为气候变化而不是问题的解决方案的一部分。
According to Lal, global food productivity cannot be sustained by ignoring the health of the soil. Policy makers are slowly beginning to recognize that soil is the foundation on which, Lal says, “sustainable agriculture should be based, and without it the global issues of climate change and food security cannot be [adequately] addressed.”
他将这种推理归因于为什么今年的土壤科学家将获得世界食品奖。
这World Food PrizeFoundation’s mission is to “elevate innovations and inspire action to sustainably increase the quality, quantity, and availability of food for all.” The Prize is the foremost international honor recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development through these means.
拉尔的研究表明，通过恢复土壤健康，可以使全球年度谷物产量增加一倍，同时还将谷物种植下的土地面积降低30％，并将肥料的使用减少50％。所有这些都可以在2100年之前实现。
Another concept that drives Lal’s research is the One Health approach to solving global issues of climate change and food security. “When soils are healthy we don’t need as much pesticides,” Lal tells Food Tank. “Twenty-five percent of global biodiversity is in the soil.” And by keeping the soil healthy, crops can better fight off pests on their own, and be healthier for us to eat.
“The health of soil, plants, animals, people, and the environment is one and indivisible.”
Listen to the full interview with Dr. Lal on “Food Talk With Dani Nierenberg” below:
