Fran tenBensel Benne | Agronomy and Horticulture
Javed Iqbal joined the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture Aug. 19 as an assistant professor and nutrient management and water quality specialist. He has a 40% research and 60% extension appointment.
Iqbal is currently working to improve fertilizer-use practices in cropping systems in Nebraska, which can help growers optimize fertilizer use, improve nutrient use efficiency, increase crop production and farm profitability while protecting air and water quality.
“My ultimate goal is to provide research-based information to growers so they can optimize farm inputs, increase their farm profits and protect the water quality of the Ogallala aquifer,” Iqbal said.
Iqbal is originally from a small town named Layyah in Punjab Province, Pakistan. The region is semi-arid with sand dunes and irrigated land, somewhat similar to the Nebraska sandhills.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in soil science and a master’s degree in soil microbiology and biochemistry from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. He received a doctorate in soil science from Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan, China.
Iqbal worked for two years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Kentucky and five years at Iowa State University. Before taking his position at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, he worked for three years as a research scientist at Iowa State.
He and his wife Nazia Hina and their three kids, Maryam, Abdullah and Abdul, love living in Nebraska. “I like the diverse landscapes and crops, summer sunshine, winter snow and the climate gradient from eastern to western Nebraska,” he said. “Nebraska has some similarities to my hometown in the form of wheat, beans and corn crops, and in landscapes.”
Iqbal joked about moving so many times from warm to cold places — Layyah, Pakistan to Wuhan, China; Lexington, Kentucky to Ames, Iowa and now to Lincoln. “My wife doesn’t want to move to any more cold places and she thinks Nebraska can be our final stop,” he said. “Since we have moved to Nebraska, my family is enjoying the nice weather conditions here, and we are looking forward to further exploring the natural beauty of the state.”
