Bhandari

Dr. Krishna B. Bhandari
Assistant Professor and State Extension Specialist in Forage Agronomy 
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
College of Agriculture

Contact Information
202L Farrell Westbrook Agricultural Complex
Telephone: 615-963-5828
kbhandar@tnstate.edu


Research Interests
Investigating impacts of forage species and mixtures, and management practices on improving forage production, soil health, and promoting native bees. 

Studying sustainability of grass-alfalfa systems and alfalfa resilience to water/drought stress.

Addressing climate change through economically viable incorporation of native warm-season grasses into forage production systems since warm-season grasses can contribute to soil carbon sequestration and do not need much nitrogen fertilizers. 

Synthetic N fertilizer application is one of the major contributors to agriculture-related greenhouse gases emissions, so I am interested in using low-cost, resilient legume in rotation and mixture with grasses and other row crops. 

Collaboration
Measuring greenhouse gas emissions and application of precision agricultural technologies are some of the priorities I have identified for attracting funding and collaborative working relationships.

Peer-reviewed Publications 
Bhandari, K.B., V. Acosta-Martinez, L. Pérez-Guzmán, and C.P. West. 2022. Soil health within transitions from irrigation to limited irrigation and dryland management. Agricultural & Environmental Letters, 7, e20077. https://doi.10.1002/ael2.20077

Bhandari, K.B., C.P. West. 2012. Differences in Soil Microbial Communities in Dryland Forage Production Systems in Semi-arid Texas High Plains. Texas Journal of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 34:10-21. https://txjanr.agintexas.org/index.php/txjanr/article/view/415

Bhandari, K.B., S.D. Longing, C.P. West, and C. Lechnar. 2021. Bees and other pollinators in adjacent Old World bluestem and cotton fields in the Texas High Plains. Texas Journal of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 34:1-9. https://txjanr.agintexas.org/index.php/txjanr/article/view/417

Bhandari, K.B., P. Torrance, E. Huffman, J. Bennett, and D.G. Riley. 2020. Insecticide resistance in diamondback moth (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) in Georgia. Journal of Entomological Science, 55(3), 416-420. doi:10.18474/0749-8004-55.3.416

Bhandari, K.B., C.P. West, V. Acosta-Martinez. 2020. Assessing the role of interseeding alfalfa into grass on improving pasture soil health in semi-arid Texas High Plains. Applied Soil Ecology 147. doi:10.1016/j.apsoil.2019.103399

Bhandari, K.B., S.D. Longing, and C.P. West. 2020. Bees occurring in corn production fields treated with atoxigenic Aspergillus flavus (Texas, USA). Agronomy 2020, 10, 571. doi: 10.3390/agronomy10040571

Bhandari, K.B., S.D. Longing, and C.P. West. 2020.  Soil microbial communities in corn fields treated with atoxigenic Aspergillus flavus. Soil Systems, 4, 35.  doi:10.3390/soilsystems4020035

Bhandari, K.B., C.P. West, D. Klein, S. Subbiah, and K. Surowiec. 2019. Chemical composition of essential oil of ‘WW-B.Dahl’ Old World bluestem grown in the Texas High Plains. Industrial Crops & Products 133:1-9. doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2019.03.013

Bhandari, K.B., C.P. West, S.D. Longing, C.P. Brown, P.E. Green, and E. Barkowsky. 2018. Pollinator abundance in semi-arid pastures as affected by forage species. Crop Science 58 (6): 2665-2671. doi:10.2135/cropsci2018.06.0393.

Bhandari, K.B., C.P. West, V. Acosta-Martinez, J. Cotton, and A. Cano. 2018. Soil health indicators as affected by diverse forage species and mixtures in semi-arid pastures. Applied Soil Ecology 132:179-186. doi:10.1016/j.apsoil.2018.09.002

Bhandari, K.B., C.P. West, S.D. Longing, C.P. Brown, and P.E. Green. 2018. Comparison of arthropod communities among different forage types on the Texas High Plains using pitfall traps. Crop Forage &Turfgrass Management 4:180005. doi:10.2134/cftm2018.01.0005.2018

Bhandari, K.B., C.P. West, and S.D. 2018. Longing. Communities of canopy-dwelling arthropods in response to diverse forages. Agricultural & Environmental Letters 3:180037. doi:10.2134/ael2018.07.0037

Bhandari, K.B., C.P. West, and S.D. Longing. 2018. Fly Densities on cattle grazing ‘WW- B.Dahl’ Old World bluestem pasture systems. Texas Journal of Agriculture and Natural Resources 31: T1-T5. 

Google scholar citations https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=m4i35DkAAAAJ&hl=en

Awards and Honors 
Gerald O. Mott Award for Meritorious Graduate Student in Crop Science, Crop Science Society of America, 2018
Water Conservation Research Fellowship, The Sandy Land Underground Water Conservation District/Texas Tech University, 2016.
Future Leader Scholar, Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development, 2014.

Education
PhD, Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 
MS, Plant Protection and Pest Management, University of Georgia, Athens, GA  
BS, Agricultural Sciences, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

Date joined Faculty: August 2023.