Rate My Professor Rushna Munir

Dr. Rushna Munir is a soil scientist with expertise in managing sodic and alkaline soils for sustainable crop production. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Western Australia, where her doctoral research examined chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) responses and adaptation to waterlogging conditions, contributing to improved understanding of crop tolerance mechanisms under root-zone hypoxic environments, elevated ethylene, and carbon dioxide.

Following her PhD, Munir served as a research scientist at the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) in Western Australia. Her research focused on sodic soil management in the low rainfall zone of the WA wheatbelt. She collaborated with the Centre for Sustainable Farming Systems and Food Futures Institute at Murdoch University on projects enhancing grain yields on heavy-textured alkaline sodic soils in rainfed Mediterranean settings. Notable publications include "Micro-Water Harvesting and Soil Amendment Increase Grain Yields of Barley on a Heavy-Textured Alkaline Sodic Soil in a Rainfed Mediterranean Environment" (Agronomy, 2021), which demonstrated up to 50% higher barley yields at Merredin through micro-water harvesting and gypsum; "Salinity in Calcarosols occurs through the presence of sodium carbonate rather than exchangeable sodium" (Soil Research, 2025); and "Sensitivity of chickpea and faba bean to root-zone hypoxia, elevated ethylene, and carbon dioxide" (Plant, Cell & Environment, 2019). Munir contributed to the Soil Quality Knowledge Base ebook series on sodic and alkaline soils and participated in SoilsWest seminars and GRDC Grains Research Updates, advancing practical strategies for addressing soil dispersion and salinity in broadacre farming.