The SM-CRSP rice-wheat project has also agreed to fund four MS degree level students at the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) at Rampur, Nepal. IAAS is the agricultural college of Tribuhvan University. We expect to maintain from 2-4 students in the MS program for the duration of the project. The two year MS degree program is new and costs to us for fees and student support are about $1250/yr/student. The Institute has agreed to waive overhead costs and fees that it normally charges students who have external support. Two students have been identified for this program and the selection process for the other two is underway. Faculty at IAAS are formalizing a multi-disciplinary rice-wheat research group.

Name	Country of Residence	Discipline	Degree	Status
Cornell University
Khrishna Rao	India	Agric. Economics	MS	Degree Awarded
Kaafee Billah	Bangladesh	Agric. Economics	PhD	Field Research, Bangladesh
Medha Devare	United States	Soil Fertility	PhD	Completed field research, Nepal
Anna Marie Mayer	England	Human Nutrition	PhD	Coursework; research in Bangladesh
Andy McDonald	United States	Soil Physics	PhD	Field research, Nepal
Jon Padgham	United States	Soil Fertility	PhD	Coursework; research in Bangladesh
Shabnam Qureshi	Pakistan	Soil Physics	PhD	Research at Cornell
IAAS 1 Rampur
Deepak Bhandari	Nepal	Plant Pathology	MS	First year coursework/research
Deepak ?	Nepal	Plant Pathology	MS	First year coursework/research
?	Nepal	Agronomy/soils	MS	Under selection
?	Nepal	Agronomy/soils	MS	Under selection

1 Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science

B. Outline of Thesis Research Programs of Cornell Students

1. Khrishna Rao (Agricultural Economics):

Research analyzed agronomic, economic, and policy factors that resulted in decline of chickpea production in North West India.

2. Kaafee Billah (Agricultural Economics):

A basic concern is that farm level economic analyses generally do not assign economic value to family food security or nutrition and health. The objective of the research is to better understand how farm families make decisions between income generation opportunities through sale of produce and family food security. Research is in Bangladesh. Data sources are household level surveys carried out by IFPRI, by our project (Dinajpur/Rangpur districts), and supplemental information that he is collecting. One output will be an agricultural household decision making model that can be used to evaluate likely outcomes of potential agricultural intervention strategies designed to improve family income and health.

3. Medha Devare (Soil Science):

The objective of the research is to evaluate the impacts of altering soil and water management in the rice-wheat rotation on system productivity. The focus is on improving the soil environment for production of wheat. It compares conventional tillage practice with deep tillage, puddling with non-puddling, and flooding of rice with non-flooding. An intercrop of rice-blackgram is included as a possible option for increasing economic and/or food benefits. The impact of soil solarization on these systems was also included.

4. Andrew MacDonald (Soil Science):

Late season drought stress in rice is a concern in the mid-hills regions of Nepal when paddies often dry out. Research is studying this issue at a site at Khumaltar that has a water table gradient similar to that on terraces. The focus of the research is on the effects of different tillage (conventional and deep) and planting options (transplanting and direct seeding) on root development and soil plant water relationships across the shallow ground water gradient.

5. John Padgham (Soil Science):

The objectives of the planned research are (i) to further our understanding of causes for the dramatic effects of soil solarization on rice and wheat productivity and (ii) to evaluate the role of production and use of residues from cowpea and mungbean on soil biological constraints to rice and wheat productivity. The research will develop and use in vitro simulated solarization together with seedling bioassays to screen the impacts of solarization on a range of soils. Mechanisms of the solarization effect will then be investigated in "good" and "bad" soils. Finally, the impact of introducing cowpea and mungbean into the rice-wheat system on soil borne pathogens will be evaluated and compared with solarization using in vitro and field approaches.

6. Shabnam Qureshi (Soil Science):

Plans for this student to work on soil physical constraints in the rice-wheat system in Nepal have been abandoned due a greater than anticipated need for training in basic science. Her program will now be completely carried out at Cornell. Research will be on facilitated transport processes in soils using columns of soil in the laboratory. Results will have application to increasing our understanding of factors affecting chemical movement through soils but will not have specific application to the rice-wheat system.

7. Anne Marie Mayer (Human Nutrition):

The underlying concept to be evaluated by the research (still under development) is that soil nutrient supply can affect food quality and hence human nutrition. The focus will likely be on Zn and possibly also I. Zinc deficiency in humans in S. Asia is likely widespread and crop Zn content is known to be related to soil Zn supply. However, Zn deficiency is difficult to diagnose and effects of increasing Zn in the diet are beyond the scope of this research. Research will characterize Zn content of food (mostly cereals) as a function of soil Zn status (known to be variable at the proposed study site of Jogitola village, Bangladesh) and intake within families. Evaluations of Zn supply will be made based on recommended RDI’s for Zn. The International Center for Research on Diahorrea (ICDDR,B) in Dhaka, which recommends Zn as a treatment for diahorrea, will be a collaborator on this project. The Soil Resource Development Institute (SRDI), which surveys nutrient content of soils, and the BARC Nutrition program are other potential collaborators.