Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
(N/A)
COLUMBIA,MO 65211
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Vegetable production fields that are being converted to organic management often are of poor soil quality and lack environmental resiliency, which results in vegetable growers often facing low yields due to inadequate soil fertility, poor soil health and increased weed pressure as they transition to organic practices. While some vegetable growers expressed interest in using annual cover crops, low soil fertility can still limit cover crop biomass production needed to effectively suppress weeds and build up organic matter (SOM), underscoring the need for more innovative practices to rebuild depleted soils and ensure soil health and profitability into the future. This project is designed to address critical stakeholder needs by examining the effectiveness of biochar-based treatments on soil health, vegetable yield, and economic profitability during organic transition. Synergistic soil health benefits could arise when soil amendments such as biochar are paired with compost and/or biologicals resulting in greater agronomic and environmental benefits during transition to organic management. We will work with farmers to conduct on-farm learning trials, which complement research conducted at University research centers where a full suite of biochar-based amendment application frequency scenarios will be experimented. Project results will be disseminated to a broad audience through various means including virtual field-days, video stories, podcasts, presentations at grower-focused and professional conferences.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
100%
Developmental
0%
Goals / Objectives
The long-term goal of the proposed project is to compare the effectiveness of biochar-biologicals-compost amendments in supporting profitable and resilient organic vegetable production systems in the face of extreme weather events - i.e., record setting temperatures, flooding, and prolonged periods of drought - that are becoming more prevalent in Missouri and the surrounding region. To achieve our project goals, there are four specific objectives: (1) Evaluate in a controlled greenhouse setting biochar sources and biologicals to determine the critical characteristics that promote soil health and facilitate long-term carbon sequestration in low CEC soils, thereby identifying best performing biochar type and biostimulant (in terms of cost-effectiveness and soil health benefits, among other characteristics); (2) Using the best performing biochar and biostimulant, evaluate the effectiveness of biochar-compost-biologics combination in the field study on soil health and vegetable yield, including conducting on-farm demonstration trials at collaborating growers' field sites; (3) Perform techno-economic assessment (TEA) of the proposed farming systems to determine economic viability of the systems being studied; and (4) Conduct Extension/outreach activities by engaging vegetable producers across Missouri and beyond to foster the adoption of biochar-based management practices investigated in this study using both traditional formats including field days and written handouts as well as non-traditional ways through social media platforms.
Project Methods
We have incorporated feedback from our advisory committee into the proposal that after screening of different biochars and biologicals in the greenhouse, a system using biochar-biologicals-compost strategies in a 3-year vegetable rotation will be trialed on a certified organic research farm and data on the impacts of these strategies on study parameters (soil health, vegetable yields, weeds abundance and diversity) will be gathered and shared with a broad spectrum of audience. Biochar-biologicals-compost strategy will be compared with annual cover crops and no-amendment control. Additionally, economic analysis will be performed to assess input costs and sales value of cash crops within each treatment scenario. Biochar and biological sources will be pre-evaluated in controlled greenhouse setting in terms of soil health and cash crop yield. Best-performing biochar and biological will be used for field soil applications in comparison. A tomato (Solanaceae)-cucumber (Cucurbitaceae)-kale (Brassicaceae) production system will be used for 3-year vegetable crop rotation with each crop present every year, thus evaluating a variety of systems to find solutions offering flexibility in the planning of cash crop planting and biochar-based soil amendment for organic vegetable growers. A successful companion production system as detailed above would be readily adopted by organic vegetable producers. The high-management requirement that characterizes organic vegetable production is hypothesized to fit well into the practices of using biochar-biologicals-compost for on-farm input, leading to improved profitability or at least reduced economic risk for organic vegetable farmers.