Dilip Nandwani Appointed to National Organic Standards Board
Sustainable agriculture, vegetable production specialists, grafting fruit trees, and micropropagation are professor Dilip Nandwani’s scientific interests.
India-West Staff Reporter
WASHINGTON, D.C – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has appointed four new members to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). Indian American professor Dr. Dilip Nandwani is among those who will serve a five year term, ending Jan.2027.
The NOSB is composed of 15 volunteer members from the organic sector. It aids USADA in creating standards for organic production substances and provides advice on areas of the National Organic Program.
Nandwani is with Tennessee State University in Nashville. He holds a Ph.D. in Botany and has ten years of teaching experience, focusing on organic agriculture, certification, and crop science.
Others appointed are Elizabeth (Liz) Graznak (Missouri) was appointed to an environmental protection and resource conservation seat, Allison Johnson (California) to a public interest or consumer interest organization seat, and Javier Zamora (California) to a farmer seat.
The new appointees will use their expertise to assist USDA in providing farmers and handlers with the tools they need to meet consumer demand for organic products, as well as ensuring that organic is a part of efforts to build a more climate-smart, resilient, and equitable food system in the following five years.
Nandwani has almost two decades of experience in agricultural research, outreach, and teaching with Land Grant institutions. He has written more than 130 publications on organic agriculture, sustainable horticulture, crop production and development, micropropagation, and cultivar evaluations of fruits, vegetables, and root crops. He is from the American Society for Horticultural Science, Certified Professional Horticulturist and the editor of three books, “Sustainable Horticultural Systems,” “Organic Farming for Sustainable Agriculture,” and “Urban Horticulture-Sustainability for the Future.”
Nandwani serves on the board of the Tennessee Organic Growers Association (TOGA). He has received multiple accolades, including the Western Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors’ Award of Excellence and the Center for Service-Learning & Civic Engagement’s Faculty Engaged Scholar.
Sustainable agriculture, vegetable production specialists (organic & conventional), grafting fruit trees, and micropropagation are Nandwani’s scientific interests.