Presentation title: What Temperate Agriculture Doesn’t Teach Us: The Critical Role of Variable Charge Soils in the Tropics

As Chief Scientific Officer of OCP Nutricrops, a global innovator in soil and plant health solutions, Dr. Vergütz combines 12 years of academic research, 3 years of executive leadership, and hands-on farming experience to redefine sustainable agriculture.

A scientist, strategist, and startup founder, he bridges the gap between cutting-edge research and practical farming solutions. His mission: empowering farmers worldwide with science-driven tools to improve soil health, enhance productivity, and turn agriculture into a frontline solution for climate change.

By integrating long-term research, business innovation, and farmer-centric insights, he transforms scientific breakthroughs into scalable impact—proving that productive agriculture and environmental stewardship can thrive together.

Keynote title: Nutrient interactions in variable-charge soils: implications for plant productivity and atmospheric CO₂

Professor Paul Nelson is a soil scientist helping to improve agricultural land management and has 35 years of experience working at the agricultural-environmental interface. He has studied soil condition, functions and the effects of agricultural management in Australia, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. Over the past 27 years he has worked in the tropics, with soils ranging from recent volcanic ash in Papua New Guinea to highly weathered soils in northern Australia. His major research interests include soil carbon cycling, and the effects of enhanced rock weathering on carbon dioxide capture. He has worked at the University of Adelaide, the French national agricultural research agency (INRA), the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations, CSIRO, the Papua New Guinea Oil Palm Research Association, and the Queensland Department of Natural Resources. Paul is now a research leader at James Cook University in Cairns, Australia.

Keynote title: Interaction between oppositely charged particles and its effect on surface chemical properties of variable charge soils

Renkou Xu is a Research Professor at Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as a professor at University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. He received his Ph. D in Soil Science in 1997 from Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences and was appointed as Professor at the same institute in 2004. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of the journal Acta Pedologica Sinica and Associate Editor of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. He is also a member of the Biochar editorial board. Dr. Xu has been working on the surface chemical properties of variable charge soils, soil acidification mechanisms, and the amelioration of acid soils for a long time. He has had more than 230 articles published in international journals, as well two books in Chinese. He received the National Award for Science and Technology Progress from the Chinese Government in 2018. He was awarded the honorary title of Young and Middle-Aged Expert with Outstanding Contributions in Jiangsu Province, China in 2020.

Keynote title: Understanding Brazilian soils with variable charge: history and development of sustainable technologies to ensure food productivity

Ph.D and Pos-doctorate in Agronomy – Soil Science from Purdue University (USA). Expertise in Soil Genesis, Morphology and Classification. Member of IUSS Working Group to develop the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB). Organizing committee of 21st World Congress of Soil Science, August 2018. President of Brazilian Soil Science Society (SBCS) from 2019 to 2023. Member of the National Executive Committee of PronaSolos (MAPA-Embrapa Soils) from 2020 to 2021. Member of the Brazilian Academy of Agronomic Science (ABCA). Expert member of the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS) – FAO/ Global Soil Partnership (GSP), from 2018 to 2025, representing Latin America and Caribbean. Lead of the working group of ITPS and International Network of Black Soils (INBS) that elaborated the Global Status of Black Soils report, 2020 to 2022. Member of the Working Group for preparation of the FAO/ITPS document Status of the Worlds Soil Resources Report 2025.

Keynote title: Carbon sequestration potential in variable charge soils

Budiman Minasny is a Professor of Soil-Landscape Modelling at the University of Sydney and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. A recipient of the prestigious Australian Research Council Future Fellowship, he is internationally recognised as a leading soil scientist. Since 2019, he has been named a Highly Cited Researcher by the Web of Science.

His research focuses on the critical role of soil in addressing global challenges such as climate change, food and water security, sustainable energy, and biodiversity conservation. With over 160 peer-reviewed publications, he is widely acknowledged as a pioneer in digital soil mapping and modelling.

Keynote title: A European perspective of Sustainable Soil Management when dealing with variable charge soils.

Prof. Dr. Pandi Zdruli is Senior Research Scientist with the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari in Italy since 1999 where he teaches soil science. Prior to this, he was Visiting Scientist with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre at Ispra, Italy and Senior Fulbright Research Scholar at the USDA – Natural Resources Conservation Service in Washington, D.C. He graduated in 1981 from the Agricultural University of Tirana in his native Albania and after working for 13 years in his home country he pursued graduate studies in the USA sponsored by the Fulbright Foundation.

Prof. Zdruli has published more than 80 papers on soil management topics and has edited 12 books. Among others, he is member of International Union of Soil Science, Soil, Crop and Agronomy Society of America, Italian Society of Soil Science, European Soil Partnership, European Society for Soil Conservation, Fulbright Association, editorial board member of the Soil Atlas of Europe and Asia, major contributor of the World Atlas of Desertification (3^rd edition), Coordinating Lead Author of the chapter Land and Soil of the Global Environment Outlook 7^th Assessment (GEO-7), board member of the EU’s mission Soil Deal for Europe and many other prestigious boards.