Dr. Dilip Nandwani, an Indian American professor at Tennessee State University in Nashville, has been appointed to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) for a five-year term that will expire in January 2027.
The nomination of Nandwani and three other new members was announced by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Nandwani has a Ph.D. in Botany and has taught for ten years, focusing on organic agriculture, certification, and crop science.
The NOSB is made up of 15 volunteers from the organic industry. It assists USADA in developing organic production substance standards and provides advice on areas of the National Organic Program.
Members of the National Organic Standards Board play an important role in hearing from the public and weighing recommendations for updates to the organic standards through open, transparent, and collaborative processes, stated Jenny Lester Moffitt, Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. These new appointees will use their expertise to assist USDA in providing farmers and handlers with the tools they need to meet consumer demand for organic products, as well as ensuring that organic is a part of efforts to build a more climate-smart, resilient, and equitable food system in the following five years.
Elizabeth (Liz) Graznak (Missouri) was appointed to an environmental protection and resource conservation seat, Allison Johnson (California) to a public interest or consumer interest organisation seat, and Javier Zamora (California) to a farmer seat.
Nandwani has almost two decades of experience in agricultural research, outreach, and teaching with Land Grant institutions. He has written more than 130 publications on organic agriculture, sustainable horticulture, crop production and development, micropropagation, and cultivar evaluations of fruits, vegetables, and root crops. He is from the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) Certified Professional Horticulturist (CPH) and the editor of three books (Sustainable Horticultural Systems, Organic Farming for Sustainable Agriculture, and Urban Horticulture-Sustainability for the Future).
Nandwani serves on the board of the Tennessee Organic Growers Association (TOGA). He has received multiple accolades, including the Western Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors’ Award of Excellence and the Center for Service-Learning & Civic Engagement’s Faculty Engaged Scholar. Sustainable agriculture, vegetable production specialists (organic & conventional), grafting fruit trees, and micropropagation are Nandwani’s scientific interests.