Dr. Ashok Kumar Patra currently holds the position of Emeritus Scientist and Former Director at ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, India. He has made outstanding contributions in the areas of soil organic carbon and nitrogen, soil ecology and biodiversity, and sustainable soil management in different agro-ecosystems of India. His contribution is widely recognized by several awards/recognitions, such as UN FAO Glinka World Soil Prize 2022, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award 2021 of ICAR, IARI Hooker Award; IPNI-FAI Award. He has been recognized as one among the 13 soil scientists of the world (Food Tank, USA). For his significant contribution to create mass awareness of the importance of soil health and its management, the UN FAO has conferred King Bhumibol World Soil Day 2020 Award to ICAR-IISS, Bhopal. He also served as President of Indian Society of Soil Science and Indian Science Congress (Agriculture & Forestry Sciences Section). Dr. Patra has a total publication record of morethan 300, in which 170 are research journal articles of high impact factor with a total citation of 7500.