Accelerating crop improvement for increased yield and better adaptation to changing climatic conditions is an issue of increasing urgency in order to satisfy the ever-increasing global food demand. However, the major bottleneck is the absence of high...
Chandra Shekhar Biradar

Dr. Chandra Shekhar Biradar is a Research Team Leader- GeoAgro for Sustainable Agroecosystems, Principal Agroecosystem Scientist and Head of Geoinformatics and Research Data Management Unit at the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) -CGIAR Research Center. His core expertise focuses on the Digital Augmentation and citizens' science for accelerating sustainable agroecosystems.
Dr. Biradar has multi-disciplinary educational backgrounds with a BSc in Forestry/Agricultural sciences, MSc in Genetic Resources, and Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Space Applications for Biodiversity Conservation from IIRS, ISRO, and the University of Pune, then Postdoctoral fellows in Earth Observation at IWMI and EOS at the University of New Hampshire, USA; and Research Scientist/Faculty at OU’s EOMF and MPBIO.
He pioneered multi-disciplinary digital approaches for quantifying agri-food systems, climate change, water/land productivity mapping, land degradation assessment, multi-layer farming, and data-driven sustainable intensification. He developed the world’s first satellite sensor-based agricultural production systems. His current research focuses on digital augmentation for revitalizing balanced agroecosystems, digitization of agricultural landscapes, excellence in agronomy, and inclusive agroecosystems for rural welfare.
Dr. Biradar has authored and co-authored over 211 publications including 125 peer-review journal articles and 25 books/book chapters. He has received numerous awards and honors, including Best Team Initiative, Young Scientist, and Outstanding Scientist Awards. He has led several innovative data-driven digital agricultural use-cases, deep learning tools and also pioneered biodiversity gardening for transforming landscapes, and rural livelihoods to enhance vital food systems, diet diversity, soil health, nature conservation, and prospecting at several scales and contexts.