Recipient Organization
NAVAJO TECHNICAL COLLEGE
PO BOX 849
CROWNPOINT,NM 87313
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
This project will greatly leverage the ability of the NTU PI and Co-PIs to address research questions on Hydroponic production under seasonal environments at NTU and the MLCH. Data and analyses will be used to identify production hurdles and mitigations, plant nutrition and content of harvested crops, adaptation of ethnobotanicals to HP, and evidence of food safety concerns. A main outcome will be the trained Navajo community to run, maintain, practice food safety, sample/record relevant HP system data Expertise and facilities for safe produce handling and will be established by the NTU and MLCH teams through the support from this project. The careers of at least three faculty and at least 25 students at NTU will benefit greatly by gaining experiences in various HP systems along with analytical procedures, NTU students engaged in conduct of the research will gain valuable hands-on learn experience in HP systems, as well as data management, and statistical analysis of data from participating in this project. The microbiological and microbiome analyses of the HP systems at NTU, UMES, and USDA-ARS will benefit the overall multiagency activities currently underway to characterize the microbiome of soilless production systems and produce as it relates to plant protection, nutrient conservation, and plant nutrient uptake and conversion into health beneficial food constituents.This project will greatly leverage the ability of the NTU PI and Co-PIs to address research questions on HP production under seasonal environments at NTU and the MLCH. Data and analyses will be used to identify production hurdles and mitigations, plant nutrition and content of harvested crops, adaptation of ethnobotanicals to HP, and evidence of food safety concerns. A main outcome will be the trained Navajo community to run, maintain, practice food safety, sample/record relevant HP system data Expertise and facilities for safe produce handling and will be established by the NTU and MLCH teams through the support from this project. The careers of at least three faculty and at least 25 students at NTU will benefit greatly by gaining experiences in various HP systems along with analytical procedures, NTU students engaged in conduct of the research will gain valuable hands-on learn experience in HP systems, as well as data management, and statistical analysis of data from participating in this project. The microbiological and microbiome analyses of the HP systems at NTU, UMES, and USDA-ARS will benefit the overall multiagency activities currently underway to characterize the microbiome of soilless production systems and produce as it relates to plant protection, nutrient conservation, and plant nutrient uptake and conversion into health beneficial food constituents.
Animal Health Component
40%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
30%
Applied
40%
Developmental
30%
Goals / Objectives
This project will enhance the capacity of Navajo Technical University (NTU) to conduct research on soilless agriculture and advance the capability of Navajo communities to use soilless hydroponic production to improve access to healthy fresh produce. Current on-going research at NTU dealing with soil health and its effect on crop productivity in Navajo communities shows that very poor conditions for plant growth exist due to uranium contamination, heavy metals, pH extremes, and insufficient water. Thus, this proposed project includes research and workshops that will provide technologies (hydroponics) and convincing data, including impacts from growth-promoting microbial-inoculant formulations and microbiome comparisons from NTU and the cooperating Navajo communities' production of leafy greens, ethnobotanicals, and fruiting plants, showing they can manage and operate productive local systems for their communities and households. This will involve training, mentoring, and supporting NTU faculty and students, Navajo communities, and middle and high school students. This proposal has two main objectives: 1) Evaluate Hydroponic Systems for Production of Fresh, Nutritious Produce at Navajo Technical University; 2) Implementation of Best Practices for Soilless Production using Hydroponics in a New Mexico Climate; 3) Assist Navajo Communities in setting up Hydroponics to Produce Fresh, Nutritious Fruits and Vegetables for their use. The project will benefit from cooperation/collaboration with an 1890-institution, USDA-ARS, and Santa Fe Community College. This project will lead to NTU serving as the lead 1994-Land Grant institution for hydroponic soilless production of fresh produce in Navajo and other low-income/low-food access communities in the region.
Project Methods
Methods 1.1: First, with guidance from Agricultural Extension Specialist Del Jimenez (NMSU), we will set-up a high tunnel in which we will establish and operate the 4 types of HP systems (Kratky, NFT, DWC, Dutch Buckets) at NTU, with training from Mr. Shultz, Developer/Director of the CEA program at Santa Fe Community College and his students. Next, we will conduct an introductory workshop to interested NTU faculty and students, and prospective Navajo MLCH community participants explaining what HP systems are and how they are operated/managed. We will explain the research aspect and plants that will be used and solicit additional plant suggestions from the local Navajo participants to evaluate for growth performance and suitability in the McKinley Co. NM. Our selections include leafy greens (Amaranthus mangostanus, red stripe; Brassica oleracea; Spinacia oleracea; Ocimum basilicum), fruits (Capsicum annuum 'Yum Yums' Mix; Cucumis sativus Persian), and ethnobotanicals (Cymopterus acaulis, Navajo parsley, Fendler's spring parsley, tsimaha, leaves used as a stew condiment used for medicinal, culinary, ceremonial purposes; Thelesperma megapotamicum, Navajo Tea/cota.We expect to train 10 community participants, 25 students (NTU, middle and high school), and 20 NTU faculty and staff at 3 annual training sessions. The cooperating research and education institutions (SFCC, UMES, and USDA-ARS) have their own operating HP systems and have conducted HP research already and will share protocols with NTU and MLCH teams. Research efforts will be focused on evaluating the growth performance and suitability of selected cultivars of leafy greens to the New Mexico McKinley Co.NTU will recruit 5 students annually to work as interns on HP system research at NTU and at MLCH. Navajo Middle and High School students will visit NTU or MLCH and be receive hands-on training from NTU faculty and experienced NTU student interns. A stipend will be available to financially support students in the program. Additionally, students with hands-on training and experience in CEA operations can expect to successfully compete for career opportunities in the CEA sector. Simultaneously, the NTU extension program will work with the MLCH participants to grow quality produce and enter into a local produce marketplace as plant production becomes a reality.Methods 1.2: Productivity of inoculated treatments will be compared to that of non-inoculated treatments for each plant selection type grown. The experimental plan with 6 different plant selections, 2 inoculation treatments (+/-), harvest at maturity (~30-day growth cycles), one nutrient solutions for leafy greens, and another one for fruiting plants. We expect at least four, ~30-day leafy greens production/harvest cycles/year (reps by time: 4); and two fruit bearing harvests/year. Each harvest cycle will include 3 composites of 3 plants/plant selection per treatment. Experiments will be conducted starting year 2 after initial screening cycles have been performed in year 1 and any hurdles are resolved. The hypothesis is that the growth-promoting microbial inoculant will benefit some plants more than others and environmental conditions during growth will impact the relative abundance patterns of the microbiome community in nutrient solutions and especially the roots. In addition, leaves, roots, and nutrient solution samples will be obtained from each replicate (composite) for leaves, roots, and nutrient solutions of the harvested plants. The samples for microbiome analyses will be collected and processed as described in Gu et al., 2018. Students will be trained in standard methods for extraction of DNA and the DNA products (in duplicate) will be stored at -20C and shipped on dry-ice to USDA-ARS for subsequent processing for 16S, ITS, and 18S sequencing for bacterial, fungal, and protistan community analyses, respectively. Overall, the NTU students will be trained to operate and manage HP systems for plant productivity and quality based onanalysis of the biomass production, and observations of plant insect or disease pressure. Biological controls will be implemented as needed to manage insect pressure. The microbiome (protozoa, bacteria, fungi) of pre-transplant seedlings, harvested plant leaves, roots, and nutrient solutions will be conducted using protocols (Dumack et al, 2022; Gu et al., 2018; Triplett et al, 2023). Growth performance and microbiome communities from plant selections grown at cooperator HP facilities (SFCC, UMES, USDA-ARS) and the Navajo MLCH community will be compared to those resulting from the NTU HP experiments. This array of locations reflects widely different horticultural environments.Methods 1.3: The manual will also be used as a reference and ultimately for training the MLCH community members. It will include protocols for each sampling and sampling handling and processing step used to prepare samples for analyses. A draft version of the manual will be reviewed by the NTU, SFCC, UMES, USDA-ARS teams. The NTU students also will review and provide their suggestions and to ensure participant contributions to enhance overall clarity.Methods 2.1: First, this will involve engaging the New Mexico State University Agricultural Specialist Mr. Del Jimenez to conduct a workshop and high tunnel set-up event at NTU (Jimenez, 2019) and at MLCH which will be used for locating the various hydroponic systems at each of the two facilities. Also, training of NTU faculty, students and MLCH participants in sample collection and handling/processing in addition to the actual HP plant production system operations, monitoring, and management, all of which will be provided with detailed, illustrated instructions in the NTU practices/protocols manual.For Aim 2.1, the team will conduct hands-on experiential learning workshops for NTU faculty, students, and MLCH community to perform harvests, samplings, and research experiments and analyses on some of the harvested plants. Protocols in the NTU practices manual will support standardization of HP plant growth operations, and analysis procedures for the MLCH portion of the project as it does for the NTU research portion.Methods 2.2: The NTU team will determine the productivity of different plants across replicated harvests by season/year and plant type in New Mexico. Leafy greens (spinach and kale), peppers, and ethnobotanicals will be produced in the HP systems. Plants will be harvested using sanitized tools. The nutritional contents of composite samples (see description above of compositing plan and replication) compared to store-bought spinach and kale for phytochemical content. Best-use-by dates will be recorded for all marketplace samples analyzed.Methods 2.3: Annual presentation (years 1-3) will be made at the NTU Research Day presentations and American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) Annual Conference. In addition, findings from this research project will be disseminated at local, regional, and national meetings featuring hydroponics,CEA, and NTU and collaborating institutions web pages and agricultural extension fact sheets and guidance documents. These will be supplemented with still and video illustrations. We will submit manuscripts on the research project and findings to the 'Leading the Way' Magazine with a Tribal community audience >4,000 readers; and to https://www.ltw.org/ ; https://tribalcollegejournal.org/At the start of interacting with the MLCH community, the NTU team will offer an introductory get acquainted information session in which the various hydroponic production systems will be shown and explained.