Dr. Saddam Hussain is working as an Assistant Professor of Agronomy at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF). He also has the honorary positions of Distinguished Professor of Plant Biology at the Princess Nourah Bint e Abdul Rehman University, Riyadh, and an Honorary Research Fellow at INTI International University, Malaysia.
He is leading the first pilot project of Industrial Hemp in Pakistan at UAF in collaboration with Yunnan University under CPEC-CRG program. He has already screened the non-toxic hemp genotypes, tested the adaptability of exotic Chinese material in various agroecological conditions, formulated the production agronomy, and successfully developed the complete value chain. He has developed prototypes (fabric, denim, knitwear) using hemp fibre in collaboration with industrial partners (US Apparel, Masood Textile Mills), and has optimized the indigenous fibre processing techniques. This work has been spotted in many national and international media channels and news. Currently, he is also working on the use of hemp for CBD oil, paper making, and silage production.
He published over 180 refereed journal papers (h-index: 68, citations: >17500; Feb 2024); the majority in the first quarter of his field. The impact of his publications is consistently on the increase, and he is now receiving over 2000 citations every single year. He has been awarded “Highly Cited Researcher” status by Clarivate/Web of Science in 2021, 2022, and 2023. After his appointment at the university, he is the regular recipient of the “Research Productivity Award” from the Pakistan Council of Science and Technology.
Along with the industry, he has established active collaboration with national and international researchers. To date, he has supervised >50 postgraduate students as a major supervisor and >150 students as a supervisory committee member. He is also on the editorial panel of various Q1 journals including the Journal of Advanced Research, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, Journal of Plant Growth Regulation, BMC Plant Biology, Food and Energy Security, AoB Plants, and Crop Science-CSSA.
