Meet the Series Editor

W. James Grichar has been employed with Texas A&M AgriLife Research for over 45 years with an emphasis on research in agronomy, plant pathology, and weed science. He obtained his BS from Texas A&M in 1972 and his Masters of Plant Protection in 1975. He has published 195 journal articles, over 330 research reports and briefs, 11 book chapters, and over 300 abstracts of profession meetings. He also directs research in many crops including

corn, grain sorghum, peanuts, and sesame. He has held various positions in different professional societies including the American Peanut Research and Education Society, Southern Weed Science Society, and Texas Plant Protection Conference in addition to being Associate Editor for Peanut Science and Weed Technology. Significant accomplishments have included spearheading efforts to determine the optimum planting time for soybean production along the upper Texas Gulf Coast. These efforts have shown growers that soybean yields can be improved by 10 to 20% by following a late March to early April plant date. He also has been instrumental in developing a herbicide program for peanut production in the south Texas growing region. Through the development and use of herbicides that are effective against major weed problems in the south Texas region, peanut yields have increased by 25 to 30%.

## Meet the Volume Editor

Dr. Muhammad Aamir Iqbal, Ph.D., is an academician and researcher in agronomy with research interests in sustainable crop production, genetic improvement of field crops, organic farming, seed science, grasslands and watershed management, and bioengineering-based solutions for converting crop residues into useful products. Dr. Iqbal is currently engaged as a Fulbright postdoctoral scientist at Louisiana Tech. University, USA, having a role in ad-

vancing the scientific research on leftover crops management. Previously, he completed research training at the University of California Davis, USA, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Machinery Sciences, China, and Yunnan Sugarcane Research Institute, China. Dr. Iqbal was conferred a Doctorate in Agronomy by a prestigious seat of agricultural learning and research in South Asia, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan. He has more than 143 scientific publications and dozens of book chapters on diversified aspects of sustainable crop production and genetic improvement of field crops to his credit. Additionally, he has edited three books on different aspects of crop production, weed management, and grassland conservation. Dr. Iqbal is an editorial board member and reviewer for many high-impact journals. Being a member of the National Curriculum Revision Committee (NCRC) of Pakistan's Higher Education Commission (HEC), he has been involved in the critical task of revising and updating the curriculum of undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs offered by Pakistani Higher Education Institutes in the subjects of agronomy and crop physiology. Dr. Iqbal is a faculty member in the Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Poonch Rawalakot, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, having responsibilities of teaching, research, research mentorship, administration, and outreach activities. Moreover, he has completed research projects as principal investigator and supervised the research of several postgraduate scholars.

### Contents



*and Stephen Justice Nindi*
