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NACHIMUTHU, Gunasekhar
Research interests
- Sustainable soil management (crop rotation and tillage)
- Soil carbon
- Off-farm movement of nutrients and pesticides
- Nutrient cycling in farming systems
Background
Guna has strong background and experience with irrigated row cropping systems. Since 2014, Guna’s work has focused on sustainable soil management within cotton farming systems. He is involved in several projects that encompass long term changes in soil carbon and nutrients in the cotton soil profile, minimising yield variability in cotton and the potential environmental impact of pesticides. Guna’s research involves strong collaborations with Universities, CSIRO, the CottonInfo team and other state government agencies and his research takes a multi-disciplinary systems approach
Guna’s PhD research was focused on phosphorus nutrition in organic production. In his previous role as Research Scientist with Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Guna worked on quantifying the implications of adopting improved management practices to reduce offsite water quality impacts in a cropping system characterised by sugarcane and intensive vegetable or legume rotations.
Qualifications
- BSc (Ag.) - Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore, India (2001)
- MSc (Ag.) - in Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, TNAU, India (2003)
- PhD (Soil fertility) -The University of New England, Armidale, Australia (2008)
Current projects
2017- 2022 Minimising yield variability to maximise yield in cotton farming systems (NSW DPI, UNE, QDAF, CRDC)
2012 - 2023 Tools for assessing and achieving pesticide sustainability targets for the Australian cotton industry (NSW DPI, CRDC)
Recent publications
View Gunas ResearchGate, Google scholar and Orcid profile for a full list of publications
Professional associations and activities
- Association of Australian Cotton Science (AACS)
- International soil and Tillage Organisation (ISTRO)
- Australian Society of Soil Science
- International Union of Soil Science
- Soil Science Society of America
- American Society of Agronomy
Keywords/phrase list of research interests
- Vertosols,
- Crop rotation
- phosphorus
- Cotton
- Soil erosion
- Soil carbon
Contact details
Email: guna.nachimuthu@dpi.nsw.gov.au
Phone: (02) 6799 2407
Location: Australian Cotton Research Institute, Narrabri, NSW
