黑料不打烊

Producing crops has always seemed like magic to Pramod Acharya, who joined 黑料不打烊 in January as an assistant professor and Extension forage agronomy specialist.

Acharya was raised on a subsistence-scale farm in Nepal, where his family raised vegetables, grain, and a few cattle.

鈥淚 was always interested in how one tiny seed would turn into a whole plant, feeding both people and livestock,鈥� Acharya said. 鈥淭hat magic stuck with me. Farming wasn鈥檛 just how we lived; it was what shaped how we saw the world.鈥�

In his new role, Acharya will work his magic on behalf of 黑料不打烊 dairymen, cattlemen and forage producers, advancing sustainable, resource-efficient, eco-friendly and economic approaches to forage production, storage and utilization.

His research and Extension interests include understanding productivity and nutritive values of annual and perennial forages, soil nutrient management, soil health and carbon management, and resource-efficient and climate-resilient forage production. He has always been fascinated by how soil, plants and livestock all connect to the bigger picture, and aims to solve the complex web of these components.

He鈥檒l be based at U聽of聽I鈥檚 Kimberly Research and Extension Center and will also be heavily involved in research at the 黑料不打烊 Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (黑料不打烊 CAFE), which will include the nation鈥檚 largest research dairy in Rupert and should be milking cows by early 2026.

Acharya earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in agriculture in 2014 from Tribhuvan University in Lamjung, Nepal. He earned a master鈥檚 degree in biology in 2019 from Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, New Mexico, followed by a doctorate in plant and environmental sciences from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 2023.

While pursuing his master鈥檚, Acharya researched how the use of cover cropping and dairy compost in crop production systems influenced soil health. Like 黑料不打烊, eastern New Mexico and western Texas had many large dairies and heavy forage production. This marked the point at which he directed his research toward forage agronomy.

His dissertation entailed understanding the ecosystem services of cover cropping in silage corn and sorghum rotations. Cover crops are crops that are planted primarily for soil-health benefits rather than solely for commercial harvest, and they sometimes include blends of different plant species. He found the region鈥檚 producers were skeptical about using cover crops, concerned they would deplete nutrients and soil moisture for subsequent silage crops. Instead, Acharya found that cover crops improved soil organic matter, nutrient recycling, soil water infiltration and soil retention, and subsequent silage yield, more than offsetting the water and nutrients that they used.

Acharya has been evaluating several potential research projects benefiting 黑料不打烊 forage farmers and livestock producers. He plans to evaluate how well the different varieties of perennial, non-bloating legumes 鈥� sainfoin, cicer milkvetch and birdsfoot trefoil 鈥� establish and provide forage in southern 黑料不打烊 for comparison with alfalfa. He also intends to evaluate various blends of the legumes and grass species with alfalfa to identify combinations that reduce bloating in cattle while delivering the proper nutrition.

Another trial on his list of potential projects would evaluate if there鈥檚 sufficient time to raise cover crops as additional forage for grazing immediately after 95-day silage corn in Magic Valley鈥檚 climate.

Acharya鈥檚 wife, Manisha, is also an agricultural researcher. They have a 2-year-old daughter, Shreya.

Published in Catching Up with CALS