Debankur Sanyal
Assistant Specialist and Assistant Professor - Soil Health
Soil Health Specialist

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Maricopa Agricultural Center
37860 W Smith Enke Road
Maricopa, AZ 85138
My Research Interests
I am a soil biogeochemist broadly trained in soil health management for sustainable crop production. As a researcher, I seek answers to the fundamental questions about soil carbon nutrient cycling in the agroecosystems at multiple scales, using approaches that range from laboratory-based experiments to extensive field trials. My research interests include but not limited to quantifying the impacts of various soil management tools to improve soil health with an aim to create climate-resilient, sustainable and healthy agro-environments for human welfare. Understanding soil-plant-microbe interactions that influence soil biogeochemical properties in arid and semi-arid environments is one of my major research goals.
Extension and Outreach
I run a statewide soil health extension program and collaborate with stakeholders in studying soils under diverse agroecosystems. To design applied research questions and identify priority research needs in the desert southwest, my team conducts surveys that are distributed to more than a thousand stakeholders around the state, both electronically or physically during field events. I and my team also present research outcomes and deliver lectures on field days, meetings, and conferences, and publish research and extension articles for outreach and education.
Degrees
- PhD from North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota
- MS from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India