Deepika Timsina

Ms. Deepika Timsina is from Bharatpur in the Chitwan district of Nepal. She completed her School Leaving Certificate (SLC) and Intermediate (+2 Science) education, both with First Division honors, before earning her B.Sc. Ag. and M.Sc. Ag. degrees, also with First Division distinction, from the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS). She went on to serve as a Technical Officer at the Nepal Agricultural Research Council before becoming an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agronomy at Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU), Rampur, Chitwan. In November 2025, Ms. Timsina was selected as a PhD nominee; her research focuses on "Indigenous Microbial Consortia to Improve Phosphorus Efficiency in the Maize-Millet Cropping System in Nepal." Maize and millet are vital cereal crops for food and nutritional security in Nepal's hilly areas, with finger millet in particular valued as an underutilized, highly nutritious crop for marginalized communities. Because the acidic soils of these hillside "Bari" lands render phosphorus largely unavailable to crops, her work on efficient microbial consortia aims to improve phosphorus availability and thereby boost the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of Nepal's hill agriculture. Ms. Timsina's graduate advisor is Professor Santosh Marahatta, PhD.