Yadvinder Singh earned his BSc (Agriculture) from Kurukshetra University and MSc (Soils) from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana after which he joined the University (PAU) as Research Assistant (1974), became Senior Soil Chemist (1996) and continuing to work there in the same capacity. He was PhD Scholar (1981-85) at University of Guelph, Canada. He worked on integrated nutrient management and site-specific nutrient management in rice-wheat cropping system (1986). He was Senior Postdoctoral Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Ghent, Belgium where he worked on emission of greenhouse gases from agricultural soils (1994). Dr Singh has been a Visiting Scientist at Cornell University, USA, International Rice Research Institute and CSIRO, Australia.

Academic and Research Achievements: While at PAU, Yadvinder Singh initiated research on fertilizer and moisture interactions which provided basis for developing sound fertilizer management practices for dry land crops. From 1981-85, he worked on controlling nitrification in soils by combining large urea granules and nitrification inhibitor, dicyandiamide for increasing N use efficiency in wheat. He has developed a simple and improved method for characterizing nitrifying activity in soils. In 1986, he initiated work to develop integrated nutrient management technologies based on inorganic fertilizers and several organic sources for rice-wheat system. His work has provided scientifically sound directions for quantifying fertilizer doses and enhancing soil health. He has proposed new models to calculate fertilizer N equivalents of organic manures. He has made significant contributions in managing crop residues for nutrient cycling, and reducing environmental pollution. In recent years, his work on need-based fertilizer N management using chlorophyll meter and leaf colour chart has provided a breakthrough in reducing N losses and enhancing N use efficiency in rice and wheat. He has authored over 200 research articles, contributed four articles in the Advances in Agronomy Journal, authored a book and also a FAO bulletin.

Other Contributions: Dr Singh has served as Team Leader of the Crop Residue Management and Integrated Nutrient Management programmes at PAU. He has been instrumental in bringing a large number of research projects to the PAU and implemented several multi-institutional and multidisciplinary research projects funded by international institutions. He is serving as President, Ludhiana Chapter of the Indian Society of Soil Science.

Awards and Honours: Yadvinder Singh received the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Memorial Prize (1991-93), Dr GS Khush Distinguished Professor Award by PAU (2006), Recognition Award of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), New Delhi (2005), FAI Silver Jubilee Award of Excellence (2001), Marie Curie Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship, Commission of European Communities (1994), Best Researcher Award by PAU (1991), Commonwealth Fellowship of Government of Canada (1981), and All India (ICAR) Competitive Junior Fellowship (1971). He was elected Fellow of NAAS (1999) and Indian Society of Soil Science (2005).