Manish N. Raizada - Biography
Manish N. Raizada received his B.Sc. (Genetics) from the University of Western Ontario in Canada and Ph.D. (Plant Molecular Genetics) from Stanford University. He held fellowship positions at The International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico (Crop Genomics) and at Caltech (Bacterial Directed Evolution with Nobel Laureate Frances Arnold). He is currently a Professor in the Department of Plant Agriculture at the University of Guelph in Canada, one of the world's top ranked universities for agriculture.
The focus of the Raizada Lab is to discover, understand and evolve beneficial bacteria to help farmers sustainably grow corn (maize) and other crops including legumes, with a focus on reducing the need for synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. Dr. Raizada has a particular interest in indigenous farmers and uncovering their amazing contributions to evolving beneficial crop-microbe interactions over thousands of years, including across the Americas and Africa.
Dr. Raizada has been invited by the U.N. Food & Agricultural Organization to give global webinars on how crop microbes can reduce hunger. He is founder of SAKGlobal (SAKs, Sustainable Agriculture Kits), an effort to bring affordable $1 empowerment technologies to subsistence farmers who earn $1/day. SAK kits have thus far impacted 272,000 rural peoples, particularly women farmers. Dr. Raizada is also the Founder and Editor of Farmpedia: The Encyclopedia for Small Scale Farmers (www.Farmpedia.org).
More information is available at Loop.
Selected Honours and Notable Lectures
2023 – Invited Lecture, Volcani Institute, Israel
2022 - Invited Global Webcast, U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Rome
2021 – Invited Keynote Address to 30 ISBWG Member Nations, United Nations FAO
2021 – Invited global webcast, International Fertilizer Association (IFA), Paris
2021 – Invited global webcast, U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization, Rome
2020 – Appointed Honorary Professor (UM6P University, Morocco)
2019 – Invited presentation to new Ambassadors & High Commissioners of Canada
2018 – Invited lecture, United Nations ICGEB Institute, Trieste, Italy
2018 – Invited Keynote Speaker, Centre SEVE Plant Science Cluster Meeting, Quebec
2018 – Invited lecture, John Innes Centre and The Sainsbury Laboratory, U.K.
2017 – Invited lecture, University of California at Berkeley
2017 – Chair’s Choice Plenary, Genetics Society of America Fungal Genetics Meeting
2016 – Grant's Desi Achiever Award & Induction South Asian Hall of Fame (Toronto)
2016 – Editor's Choice Discovery in Plant Biology by The Scientist magazine
2016 – Invited lecture, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation (USA)
2016 - Commencement Speaker, North Park High School (alma mater), Canada
2015 – Profiled as a Top South Asian Achiever in Canada by Desi News Magazine
2013 – Invited lecture, University of Minnesota (USA)
2012 – Invited lecture, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (USA)
2012 – Invited Expert Witness, Parliament of Canada
2012 – Visiting Professor, EARTH University (Costa Rica)
2011 – Invited Expert Witness, Parliament of Canada
2007 – University of Guelph OAC Distinguished Teacher Award
2003 – Ontario Premier’s Research Excellence Award
1997 – Stanford University Centennial Teaching Assistant Award
1996 – Joseph R. McMicking Graduate Fellowship, Stanford University
1993 – Stanford University Centennial Teaching Assistant Award
1992 – NSERC Centennial Graduate Scholarship (1992-1996)
1992 – Commonwealth Postgraduate Scholarship (declined)
1992 – University of California, Berkeley, Regent’s Fellowship (declined)
1992 – Gold Medal (Genetics), University of Western Ontario
1988 – President’s National Entrance Scholarship, University of Western Ontario
1988 – Governor-General’s Medal, North Park High School, Brampton, Canada
1985 - Public Speaking Champion, Peel High Schools, Canada (Topic: World Hunger)
Impact (as of Dec 2024)
>Number of rural peoples impacted: >272,000
>Peer-reviewed publications: 110
>eBooks to assist subsistence farmers: 2
>Citation h-index: 42
>Citation i10 index: 76
>Raizada-authored journal article views and downloads: >728,000
>Twitter (X) Followers: >7500
>Multinational companies advised: 4
>Startup companies advised: 7
>National governments advised: 1
>Pension investment funds advised: 1
>Philanthropies advised: 3
>Universities advised: 1
>United Nations agencies advised: 1
>Collaborations with NGO-farmer organizations: 7 (in 4 countries)
>Undergraduates taught: >2800
>Number of undergraduates that were career mentored: >1900
Highly Qualified Personnel Trained (as of Dec 2024)
>Total: >130
>Graduate Students: 21 (14 PhD, 7 MSc)
>Post-doctoral Fellows: 7
>Future Professors/Group Leaders: 11
>Undergraduate and high school researchers: 97
>Undergraduate researchers who later earned (or in progress) a PhD: 17
>Undergraduate researchers who later earned (or in progress) an MD: 8
>Undergraduate researchers who later won a Rhodes Scholarship: 1
>Undergraduate researchers who later won a Fulbright Scholarship: 1
Science public outreach - >80 media interviews including:
2024 – Reuters (USA)
2023 – ‘Deadly Science’ (Documentary TV Series)
2022 – Fox Business (USA)
2022 – ‘The Climate Question’ (BBC World Service)
2021 – ‘Popular Science’ Magazine (USA)
2021 – ‘Quirks & Quarks’ (CBC Radio One)
2020 – ‘Fresh Air’ (CBC Radio One)
2016 – ‘Quirks & Quarks’ (CBC Radio One)
2015 – ‘The Agenda with Steve Paikin’ (TV Ontario)
2014 – ‘Ontario Morning’ (CBC Radio)
2013 – The Toronto Star (newspaper)
2011 – The Globe & Mail (national newspaper, Canada)
2009 – ‘Quirks & Quarks’ (CBC Radio, episode received UNESCO Award)
2009 – The Food Network
2008 – ‘The Link’ (Radio Canada International)
2008 – ‘The National’ (CBC National TV News Broadcast)
2008 – The Toronto Star (newspaper)
2008 – ‘World on Edge 2’ (U.S. documentary film)
2007 – Canadian Press (CP) (national news agency)
2007 – ‘Ontario Morning’ (CBC Radio)
2002 – ‘Ontario Morning’ (CBC Radio)
Outreach to grower organizations in Canada - Presentations
>Ecological Farmers of Ontario meeting
>Grain Farmers of Ontario meetings
>Landscape Ontario Conferences
>Ontario Certified Crop Advisor Annual Meetings
>Ontario Pest Management Conference
>Ontario Turfgrass Research Foundation meetings
>Western Canadian Turfgrass Association meeting
Direct Outreach to Farmers in Canada/US - Print media interviews
>Atlantic Farm Focus
>Crop Science Society of America
>Farms.com
>Farmtario.com
>Focus (magazine)
>FutureFarming.com
>Global Plant Protection News (IAPPS)
>Greenhouse Canada Magazine
>MyFarmLife.com
>Ontario Grain Farmer Magazine
>Rural Affairs (magazine)
>Top Crop Manager (magazine)
>The Western Producer (magazine)
Outreach to Promote Indigenous Reconciliation
>2025 - Founder/Editor: FirstNationsFoods.org - The Student Encyclopedia of Indigenous Foods of Canada (248 chapters, editing in progress, but early view)
>2020 - Senior Author: Teaching resource for Indigenous African crops (>45,000 views/downloads as of 2024, incorporated into a book by National Geographic)
Outreach to Assist Small Scale and Indigenous Farmers in Developing Countries
>2022 - Current - Founder & Editor: Farmpedia: The Encyclopedia for Small Scale Farmers (226 chapters, downloadable in 108 languages for free at Farmpedia.org)
>2024-2029 - Co-Principal investigator: A pan-African project to evolve rhizobia bacteria to assist small scale legume farmers make organic nitrogen fertilizer
>2025 - Senior Author: 3 studies to bring scientific attention to a neglected West African millet crop that alleviates mid-season hunger, called Fonio
>2023-2024 - Senior Author: A novel approach to transfer probiotic bacteria that make organic nitrogen fertilizer onto legume crops to assist small scale farmers
>2020 - Facilitator: Solutions for Small Scale Farmers in Yemen (early beta version)
>2017 - Senior Author: Recommendations to help farmers after natural disasters (52,000 views & downloads as of 2024)
>2017 - Senior Author: Recommendations to help hillside farmers (48,000 views & downloads as of 2024)
>2017 - Founder/author: A Picture Book of Best Practices for Subsistence Farmers (5 geographic versions for low literacy farmers, free, downloadable: SAKBooks.com)
>2016 - Facilitator: SAKGlobal YouTube Channel (>45,000 views as of 2024), resulted likely in the transfer of the Yam-in-Bag cultivation method from Nepal to Africa
>2015 - Senior Author - Recommendations to help nutrient management & breeding of neglected millets (combined >47,000 views and downloads as of 2024)
>2014 - Founder: Canadian Agrifood Ambassadors Program (evaluations of the import/export potential of >400 agrifood products to/from Canada & Nepal by ~500 U.Guelph students)
>2013 - Founder of the $2.7 millon Sustainable Agriculture Kits for Nepal Project which impacted >272,000 rural people
>2013 - Senior Author: Recommendations to help farmers in Haiti (>46,000 views & downloads as of 2024)
>2011-2013 - Editor: Initiative to add 100 Wikipedia chapters to catalyze scientific attention towards 100 neglected orphan crops of small scale indigenous farmers
Outreach to the Canadian agrifood sector - Resources
>2025 - Facilitator: AgriCan website (early version, in progress) of solutions to help Canadian producers mitigate climate change, as well as evaluations of innovations and new agrifood export ideas. Written by hundreds of UGuelph agriculture students (early beta version)
Print Editorials
2022 - The Western Producer (Canadian farmer magazine)
2021 - The Globe and Mail (national newspaper)
2021 - Ottawa Citizen (newspaper)
2021 - The Toronto Star (newspaper)
Podcasts
2024 - Fulfilment Equation (2-part series)
2023 - Organic BC (outreach to Canadian farmers) (2-part series)
2022 - Between the Rows (outreach to Canadian farmers)
2021 - International Fertilizer Association (Paris)
Invited External Grant Reviewer
>Alberta Innovates (Canada)
>NSERC Discovery Program (Canada)
>NSERC Alliance Program (Canada)
>NSF-Gates Foundation (USA)
>NSF Plant Genome Program (USA)
>Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Rural Affairs (Canada)
>USDA National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program (USA)
>USDA Small Business Initiatives Program (USA)
>Etc.
Invited Ad Hoc Journal Reviewer - Recent
>Nature Ecology & Evolution
>ISME Journal
>Etc.
Invited External PhD Thesis Examiner
2024 - UM6P University, Morocco
2023 - University of Toronto
2020 – University of British Columbia
2017 – University of Waterloo
2017 – Western University
2017 – Western University
2008 – University of Toronto
2005 – University of Regina