INTEGRATED AND SUSTAINABLE NUTRIENT CYCLING, NEMATODE AND SOIL HEALTH MANAGEMENT IN CROPPING SYSTEMS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1012320
• Project Start Date: May 1, 2017
• Project End Date: Apr 30, 2022
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
MICHIGAN STATE UNIV
(N/A)
EAST LANSING,MI 48824

Performing Department
Horticulture

Non Technical Summary
Organic and inorganic soil amendments, cover crops, rotations, intercropping, and conservation agriculture are among the primary agronomic practices used to achieve healthy soils that meet food security and overall planetary sustainability. Soil health --the capacity of a soil to function --has biological, physiochemical, nutritional, structural and water-holding components. The biological component of soil health, which is the least understood, includes earthworms, microarthropods, nematodes, microbes, and protozoa. By being food for others and/or feeding on others, the soil biota drive the soil food web (SFW) and nutrient cycling processes, N and C in particular, needed for sustainable ecosystems. As the most abundant metazoan on the plant, nematodes are excellent indicators of changes in soil ecosystem. When nematodes are categorized feeding behavior into bacterivore, fungivore, herbivore, omnivore, and predator trophic groups, and colonizer-persistor groups based on their reproductive strategies and life histories, they can reveal the soil's nutrient cycling potential.Despite a substantial applied and basic science knowledge base on the effects of agronomic practices on soil health components, achieving healthy soils for sustainable crop yield and profit using the common agronomic practices has several layers of complexities and gaps. First, good agronomic practices must simultaneously: i) improve soil structure, physiochemistry, water holding capacity and nutrient cycling, ii) suppress harmful while increasing beneficial organisms, and iii) improve biological functioning that leads to a desirable and steady state of soil health. It is rare that all of these important outcomes can be achieved simultaneously, and variable responses by soil type, crop and/or agronomic practices are major challenges. Moreover, crops and agronomic practices are moving targets, leaving different footprints on soil types that have highly variable biophysiochemical properties. The time needed to optimize biophysiochemical processes for any crop or soil type in any given production system is unknown. Second, soil biology is central to achieving healthy soils. However, soil biota has organisms that are harmful to crops and beneficial to soil nutrient cycling in the same environment. For example, bacterivore nematode activities alone contribute about 30% of the nitrogen available to crop plants in the soil. This makes it difficult to get to healthy soils without incorporating the functions of the good nematodes. Under these circumstances, getting to the balance that favors the good and suppresses organisms is a critical gap. Third, there is a lack of integrated efficiency analysis of the basic biophysiochemical processes that lead to healthy soils. Integrated efficiency is defined as an outcome that considers the effect of an agronomic practice on the crop, beneficial and harmful soil organisms, and soil nutrient cycling and environment simultaneously to identify best to worst case scenarios for sustainability.Our long-term goal is to develop integrated, efficient, and scalable nematode and soil health management strategies across cropping systems by be generating integrated biological and soil physiochemistry knowledge base. Knowing that soil biology is central to nutrient cycling-the foundation for healthy soils-the first short-term goal will be to focus on answering an overarching biological question. i.e. Are variable soil health outcomes due to depleted biological communities (degraded-key organisms absent) or varying community structure and function (performing at different levels)? The second short-term goal is to develop strategies that lead to targeted remedying of soil degradations in cropping systems. This will lead to designing scaling up strategies on a one-size-fits-all or location- or crop-specific basis. The goals are to be achieved with the following objectives along a continuum: Understand and refine the effects of agronomic practices on soil health in annual cropping systems (Objective 1); Develop biological management of nematode-viral and nematode-fungal complexes in perennial cropping systems (Objective 2); Develop efficient and sustainable soil health and nutrient management in cropping systems (Objective 3); Understand effects of cropping systems on nematode adaptation (Objective 4); and Test scalable soil health management strategies (Objective 5).The effects of separate and/or combinations of organic and synthetic soil nutrient amendments, cover cropping, rotations and climate-smart conservation practices (agronomic practices) on nematodes (primary indicator of soil nutrient cycling and soil health), soil physiochemistry and plant growth will be studied in replicated controlled and field experiments using university and/or grower land. These will include testing combinations of cover corps and types and rates soil amendments in field (e.g., corn and soybean) and vegetable crops in different soil types (Objective 1); biofumigation with Brassicaceae and grasses, and anaerobic soil disinfestation in perennial fruit production systems (Objective 2); and types and rates of soil amendments along with soil sterilization imposed biological stress (Objective 3). The long-term study of how soybean cyst nematode adapts and reproduces to damaging levels when sub to tillage and cropping systems typical of the US Midwest and efforts to understand the northern root-knot nematode (NRKN) parasitic variability in vegetable crops (Objective 4) will be on-going into the next phase of the project. The nematode community based soil food web (SFW) and the fertilizer use efficiency (FUE) models will be used to understand the biophysiochemical process driven changes and integrated efficiency outcomes, respectively. Under Objective 5, we will use mental modeling of smallholders land use and consumption practices to identify integrated nematode-soil health management options most likely to be adopted in different soil groups. Collectively, the impact of the objectives will include generating integrated biophysiochemical information that improves cross-disciplinary understanding of the belowground processes for healthy soils, quantifies integrated efficiency of agronomic practice, and leads to developing scalable nematode and soil health management strategies across cropping systems.

Animal Health Component

30%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

30%

Developmental

70%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
102	0110	1120	50%
212	0199	1060	40%
216	0110	1060	10%

Knowledge Area
212 - Pathogens and Nematodes Affecting Plants; 102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships; 216 - Integrated Pest Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
0110 - Soil; 0199 - Soil and land, general;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems); 1120 - Nematology;

Keywords

nutrient cycling

soil health

nematodes

integrated efficiency

vegetables

field crops

Goals / Objectives
Organic and inorganic soil amendments, cover crops, rotations, intercropping, and conservation agriculture are among the primary agronomic practices used to achieve healthy soils. Overall, variable soil health outcomes within by soil types and cropping systems and lack of cross-disciplinary integrated knowledge are major challenges to developing healthy soils. Our long-term goal is to develop integrated, efficient, and scalable soil health and nematode management strategies across cropping systems. We have two goals for the next five years.Goal 1. Build an integrated biological and soil physiochemistry knowledge base. Knowing that soil biology is central to nutrient cycling-the foundation for healthy soils-integrated data will lead us to towards answering a biological question. i.e. Are variable soil health outcomes due to depleted biological communities (degraded-key organisms absent) or varying community structure and function (performing at different levels)?Goal 2. Develop strategies that lead to targeted remedying of soil degradations in annual and perennial cropping systems. This will lead to designing scaling up strategies on a one-size-fits-all or location- or crop-specific basis. A combination of bothgoals will have economic and sustainability implications.Objective 1: Understand and refine the effects of agronomic practices on soil health in annual cropping systems.Objective 2: Develop biological management of nematode-viral and nematode-fungal complexes in perennial cropping systems.Objective 3: Develop efficient and sustainable soil health and nutrient management in cropping systems.Objective 4: Understand effects of cropping systems on nematode adaptation.Objective 5: Test scalable soil health management strategies.

Project Methods
Under Objective 1, we will focus on understanding the effects of cover cropping, soil amendments and climate-smart conservation agricultural practices on soil health. Replicated studies will be conducted in field and vegetable cropping systems here in Michigan under experiment station and grower fields and on-farms abroad in Guatemala and Malawi. The studies in Guatemala will be conducted in Andisole and Mollisole soil groups (orders). The in-state experiments will include how combinations of cover crops and plant- (PC) and animal-based (AC) compost applied at different rates affect soil health under different soil types and planted with field (e.g., corn and soybean) and vegetable crops. Under Objective 2, we will conduct greenhouse and field experiments to test biofumigation with Brassicaceae (e.g., mustard, oilseed radish) and grasses (e.g., Sorghum Sudangrass and related grasses), anaerobic soil disinfestation with hay, dried alfalfa, sugar beet pulp, corn stalks and rice bran, and compost tea and chitin amendments affects nematodes, fungi in perennial fruit production systems. Under Objective 3, we will conduct a series of replicated greenhouse and field studies to test how synthetic and organic sources and rates of soil amendments in soils with varying biophysichemical properties and imposing quantifiable biological stresses through soil sterilization influence biological communities. Nematodes and microbes will be the major biological community indicators. We will use the nematode community based SFW model to understand the outcomes of the biophysiochemical processes, and the fertilizer use efficiency (FUE) model to assess the integrated efficiency outcomes. Under Objective 4, we will continue the long-term study of how soybean cyst nematode adapts and reproduces to damaging levels when sub to tillage and cropping systems typical of the US Midwest and efforts to understand the northern root-knot nematode (NRKN) parasitic variability with particular emphasis on its impact on selecting emerging carrot varieties resistant NRKN. In addition, we will analyze data across objectives to identify any specificity in nematode adaptation across soil types and crops. We will use a combination of multivariate and soil health outcomes relative to the SFW and FUE models. Under Objective 5, we will investigate how outcomes in Andisol and Mollisol soil groups (Objective 1) get adopted by different communities. We will use mental modeling of smallholders land use and consumption practices to identify integrated nematode-soil health management options most likely to be adopted.Soil samples will be collected at experiment-specific times under each objective and analyzed for biological (nematodes and microbes) and physiochemical properties. Nematodes will be extracted from a 100-cm3 soil, fixed in triathanolamine and formalin, preserved in glycerine, and morphometrically categorized into bacteriovore, fungivore, herbivore, omnivore, and predator trophic groups, and colonizer-persistor groups based on their reproductive strategies and life histories. Data will then be analyzed for (i) diversity and abundance to reveal community structure; (ii), maturity and succession to determine ecosystem disturbance; and (iii) structure and function as described in the SFW model. We will extract microbial community DNA in treatment-specific bulk soil using the MoBio PowerSoil DNA Extraction kit. We will analyze microbial taxonomic composition and community diversity using 16S 515F/806R primers for PCR, and sequence ~10,000 reads per sample using Illumina MiSeq. Analysis using Mothur software on MSU's High-Performance Computing Cluster will determine the operational taxonomic unit at 97% sequence similarity (analogous to a species) of each sequence. We will use well-established microbial genetic markers to identify phylotypes or metabolic guilds that are depleted or absent in specific environments, a critical step towards developing sustainable soil health. We will use these data to create similarity matrices to compare communities and determine taxonomic groups. In addition, microbial community data will be correlated with outcomes of the SFW model to identify potential markers that will lead to an integrated understanding the biological processes. Soil nutrient analysis will be done well-established procedures. Response variables of relatively normally distributed variable, count and percentage variables, and ordinal and nominal categorical output variables of the SFW model will be transformed as needed to meet statistical assumptions. Analyses of count, percentage, and categorical data will use the generalized mixed model approach in PROC GLIMMIX, and categorical data analyses tools of the PROC GENMOD procedures in SAS.

Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Growers, stakeholders, agronomists, soil scientists, biologists, and community at-large. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A postdoc, a graduate student and an undergraduate student have been trained. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Through publications and zoom conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Continue with data analyses and publications of maturing projects, and continue with conducting experiments on on-going projects.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Interpretive Summary: The goal under Objectives 1 and 2 is to develop soil health management technologies adaptable to a broad range of production systems. We have been studying the effects of cropping systems and soil amendment on integrated nematode and soil health management here, and in grower fields in Malawi and Guatemala. Our long-term studies simulating Midwest cropping systems were the foundation for the international projects. The Guatemala project was on potato and concluded last year and the Malawi project ends in 2020. In Malawi, the primary crops of interest were chili, onion, tomato and potato. Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) was our collaborating academic institution. Each of the crops was grown in three farms at the same locations for three growing seasons. All crops were treated with a combination of composted chicken manure and commercial fertilizer providing either 0 Kg nitrogen (N, control), the recommended rate (1X N), or 1.5X N. Across crops, the IX and 1.5X rates are 92 Kg and 138 Kg/N. Nematode community-based soil health, soil nutrients and crop yield were measured. Across the growing seasons, the soil health data showed that the soil conditions across the locations and crops have what is considered as needing biological activity for nutrients to be released. How long it will take for the soil conditions to move to the best case scenario outcome in time and space is unknown. The amendments resulted in varying ranges of increases in soil nutrients. However, the lack of clear distinction between the 1X and 1.5X rates makes it difficult to tell whether or not the nutrient rates used herein are low, medium or high for the observed or potential crop yield. Compared with the control, the 1X and 1.5X increased crop yield. As part of Objective 3, we will be assessing the integrated efficiency of the treatments and soil health, nutrient and crop yield data collectively to identify outcomes that lead to sustainable soil health, nutrient cycling and steady and improved crop yield in subsistence agriculture. The Malawi and Guatemala studies, along with just published soil health studies across soil groups in Kenya (Thuo et al., 2020), are part of our program's strategy of developing scalable soil health management across ecosystems. Under Objective 4, the focus has been understanding the parasitic variability (PV) of the northern root-knot nematode (NKRN), which is a problem in the northern hemisphere vegetable cropping systems. While NRKN PV seems to be associated with soil types, its occurrence relative to soil health conditions remains unknown. Preliminary analyses suggest that soils NKRN has been observed seem to have degraded and depleted soil food web conditions. Principal component analysis showed distinct patters of correlations among NKRN presence or absence, soils, nematode abundance parameters, and agricultural and natural vegetation. The study lays down a foundation for more targeted investigations to understand any links between NKRN's PV and ecosystem to microbiome level changes in its soil environment.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: 1. Thuo, A. K., G. N., Karuku, J. W., Kimenju, G. M., Kariuku, P. K. Wendot, and H. Melakeberhan 2020. Seasonal variation of nematode assemblage and diversity on selected soil groups in Kenya: Vertisols, Cambisols and Arenosols. Tropical and Subtropical Agroecosystems 23 (2) #63. file:///C:/Users/Haddish/AppData/Local/Temp/3074-14085-2-PB-1.pdf
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: 2. Thuo, A. K., G. N., Karuku, J. W., Kimenju, G. M., Kariuku, P. K. Wendot, and H. Melakeberhan 2020. Factors influencing the relationship between nematode communities and edaphic factors on selected soil groups in Kenya: Vertisols, Cambisols and Arenosols. Tropical and Subtropical Agroecosystems 23(2) #49. file:///C:/Users/Haddish/AppData/Local/Temp/3018-13887-2-PB.pdf.

Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Growers, stakeholder, agronomists, soil scientists, social scientitsts, biologists, and community at-large. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A graduate and an undergraduate students and a postdoc. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Yes, at professional and lay audience meetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Execute the objectives in progress.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The focus under Objectives 1 and 2 has been integrated nematode and soil health management in vegetables and fruits under tropical and temperate climates in collaboration with Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), Malawi, University of San Carlos (USAC), Guatemala, and University of Hawaii (UH). The international projects build on our understanding of the effects of soil amendment and tillage practices on soil health and nematodes. The value chains (VC) in Malawi were chili, onion, tomato, potato, mango, guava and citrus, and in Guatemala, potato was crop. The goal is to develop soil health management technologies adaptable to a broad range of production systems. In Malawi combined composted chicken manure and recommended inorganic fertilizer, Compound D, and Calcium Ammonium Nitrate were applied at varying rates as basal and top dressing respectively. These amendments delivered either 0 Kg of N (control), the recommended rate 92Kg (1X N), or 138Kg (1.5X N). The study was conducted at five locations for each of the vegetable VC and at two locations for the fruits. The soil health and nematode community analyses parameters varied by VC and location, and the controls performed poorly compared to the 1X and 1.5X N rates over two growing seasons. Plant-parasitic nematodes dominated by root-knot, lesion and spiral nematodes ranged from 15-40%, and varied by location. Across locations and VC, the food web conditions indicate the need for biological activity for nutrients to be released. In Guatemala, the study was conducted in eight locations at each of Mollisol and Andisol soil groups over two growing seasonss. In each region, we tested the effects of amending soils either with or without bio-mix and 0, 318, or 454 kg composted chicken manure at eight locations. The bio-mix (BioCopia) consisted of Guatemalan isolates of Purpureum and Bacillus applied at 1.8 kg/m2 to suppress harmful nematodes. The soil food web conditions in Guatemala showed similar needs as those in Malawi despite having high organic matter and nitrogen. Soil amendment treatment had effect on potato cyst nematode, possibly due to initially high population densities in the soil. As part of Objective 3, the integrated efficiency by expressing the relationship between potato cyst nematodes (Globodera spp.) population density (x-axis) and potato yield and/or C:N ratio (y-axis) as a percent of control. A regression of x and y determines four best-to-worst case outcomes for managing cysts, yield, soil nutrients and the environment simultaneously. Cyst population density increased in both soils, suggesting that the treatments were not effective. Potato yield increased in Andisols and decreased in Mollisols by about 5%. Organic matter did not change in Andisols, but increased in Mollisols. Cyst population density was very high before the treatments were initiated in both soil groups. A combination of the cyst, C:N ratio and potato yield data suggest that the Andisols are likely to benefit more from soil amendments than the Mollisols, which are high in organic matter. Under Objective 4, the focus has been the northern root-knot nematode (NKRN), which is a problem in the northern hemisphere vegetable cropping systems. Currently there are no commercially available resistant cultivars. The NRKN has parasitic variability that seems to be associated with soil types, and it occurs in varying soil health conditions. The agrobiological basis of NRKN parasitic variability remains unknown. Our program's focus under this objective is to understand how NRKN parasitic variability relates to the biological and physiochemical conditions in the environment in which it survives. Preliminary analyses of samples collected from muck and mineral soils under vegetable production in three regions of the lower peninsula of Michigan show little correlation between NRKN presence and abundance of herbivore and non-herbivore nematodes. However, NRKN presence in the soils appears to be more under degraded and/or disturbed soil health conditions. How the presence of NRKN in degraded and disturbed soil condition relates to parasitic variability is being investigated. Under Objective 5 and in collaboration with the University of Hawaii and University of San Carlos, Guatemala, the focus has been assessing the technical efficiency of the smallholder potato growers in the Highlands of Western Guatemala. A stochastic frontier production function analyses of four locations suggested that technical inefficiency of the growers was low. The estimated model shows that technical inefficiency contributes to the 58% of production variability among potato farmers. The average technical efficiency is at 42%. In addition, there is a considerable variation in technical efficiency between four locations. Hence, there is a considerable room for the implementation of best agricultural practices for potato farming system in Western Guatemala. The estimated inefficiency model indicates that gender is a significant factor, which contributes to increase technical efficiency. This finding has vital policy implications for formulating an innovative rural development strategy which integrates gender into rural development planning in Guatemala. Likewise, this paper suggests that an increase in technical efficiency leads to improve productivity in potato cultivation and thereby increases farm household income. Thus, the findings provide policy insights for formulating a rural development strategy which, enhances productivity through improving technical efficiency in potato farming. It is our opinion that such a development strategy will assist poverty reduction and improving food security among potato farmers.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: 1. Kakaire, S., K. Njira, L. Chilasa, and H. Melakeberhan 2019. Composted chicken manure-based soil health management in selected vegetable value chains on smallholder farmers in Malawi. Society of Nematologists 58th Annual Meeting. Raleigh, NC. 52.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: 2. Kakaire, S., A. Sanchez, B S. Sipes, C.-L. Lee, A. Sacbaja, C. Chan, and H. Melakeberhan 2019. Integrated nematode and soil health management in the western highlands of Guatemalan potato production soils: I-similarities and differences in soil food web structure and function. Society of Nematologists 58th Annual Meeting. Raleigh, NC. 52-53.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: 3. Lartey, I., T.L. Marsh, and H. Melakeberhan 2019. Soil type-driven foodweb dynamics associated Meloidogyne hapla in Michigan vegetable fields. Society of Nematologists 58th Annual Meeting. Raleigh, NC. 57.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: 4. Sanchez, A., G. I. Alverez, B. S. Sipes, S. Kakaire, C.-L. Lee, A. Sacbaja, C. Chen, and H. Melakeberhan 2019. Integrated nematode and soil health management in the western highlands of Guatemalan potato production soils: II-Integrated efficiency of soil amendments. Society of Nematologists 58th Annual Meeting. Raleigh, NC. 53.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: 5. Widanage, R., C. Chan, A. Mejia, A. Sanchez, B. S Sipes, A. Sacbaja, and H. Melakeberhan 2019. Integrated nematode and soil health management in the western highlands of Guatemalan potato production soils: III  Enhancing technical efficiency of growers. Society of Nematologists 58th Annual Meeting. Raleigh, NC. 53-54.

Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:Growers, stakeholders, scientists, policy-makers, community at-large. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? One graduate student has completed a Ph. D.. In addition, two postdocs have participated in this project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Published research outputs from this phase of this project include a Ph. D. Thesis, peer-reviewed articles, and abstracts. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Conduct all objectives simultaneously

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Alleviating the intertwined and grand challenges of food and nutritional insecurities in the Highlands of Guatemala have been a major focus of the USAID's Horticulture Innovation Laboratory. Here the focus under Objective 1 has been on managing plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) and improving soil health in potato production and increasing smallholder farmers' awareness. In order to address these challenges, an interdisciplinary team from University of Hawaii (social science), Michigan State University (MSU, soil health) and University of San Carlos (USAC, agronomy and soil science) conducted a ground-truthing in 2017 and initiated experiments in the Huehuetenango and Xela regions of Guatemala. The regions lay over Mollisol and Andisol soil groups (classes), respectively. The experiment in each region consisted of testing the effects of amending soils either with or without bio-mix and 0, 318, or 454 kg composted chicken manure at eight locations. The bio-mix (BioCopia) consisted of Guatemalan isolates of Purpureum and Bacillus applied at 1.8 kg/m2 to suppress harmful nematodes. This presentation deals with the effects of these treatments on nematode community (NCS) and soil food web (SFW) structure and soil physiochemistry. Nematodes were extracted from 100 cm3 of soil, fixed in double TAF solution at USAC and enumerated at MSU. Over the growing season, nematode abundance averaged about 300 to 600 individuals/100 cm3 of soil. Herbivores accounted for 20-40% of the nematode fauna in both regions. Herbivores, predators and omnivores tended to increase with time in Andisols plots more so than in Mollisols plots. Soil pH in the Andisols averaged 5.5 and 5.0 in Mollisols. P was similar in both soils. While K was above recommended levels in both soils, K was higher in Andisols than in Mollisols. Percent soil organic matter and C:N ratio were significantly higher in Mollisols than in Andisols, suggesting nutritional imbalances between the soil groups. Yet, based on the Ferris SFW model, the agroecosystem suitability profile of the two soil groups fell into Quadrant C - needing biological activity for nutrients to be released. The combination of the biophysiochemical data suggest that neither soil group has suitable conditions, but the soil groups differ in the practices needed to achieve ideal agroecosystem conditions - profile outcomes falling into Quadrant B of the SFW model. Horticultural crops were the focus under Objective 2. Current smallholder horticultural farming practices in Malawi involve intensive cultivation, insufficient fertilizer application, lack of composting and climate-smart soil fertility management practices. These practices coupled with insufficient fertilizer formulation for different soil nutrient requirements and PPN exacerbate soil degradation and crop yield losses. The Malawi Strengthening Inclusive Markets for Agriculture project, a USDA-FAS funded project led by Land O'Lakes Inc. has been implementing integrated and sustainable soil health and PPN management measures aimed at addressing these challenges. MSU provides the technical expertise in developing healthy soils and grower-adoptable production technologies. In collaboration with local expertise at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), 20 vegetable and 7 fruit value chain Yankho™ (Demonstration) Plots (YPs) were established in Mchinji, Lilongwe, Dedza, Ntcheu and Mangochi districts in 2017. The YPs ranged from 0.2 to 0.8 ha in area. The vegetables were chili (Capsicum annuum), onion (Allium cepa), potato (Solanum tuberosum) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), and mango (Mangifera indica), guava (Psidium guajava) and citrus (Citrus sp.), were the fruits. As part of ground-truthing and developing standardized field-specific amendment recommendations, NCS and soil physiochemistry were analyzed. Representative soil samples were taken from each YP prior to planting. Nematodes were extracted from 100cm3 of soil, fixed in double TAF at LUANAR and enumerated at MSU. Herbivores constituted 17 % of the nematode fauna. The most prevalent PPN species were the root-knot (Meloidogyne sp.), lesion (Pratylenchus sp.), and spiral (Helicotylenchus sp.) nematodes, respectively. Based on the Ferris et al. (2001) SFW model, the data for the vegetable YPs showed up in Quadrant D (depleted system) and those of fruit YPs in Quadrant C (needing biological activity for nutrients to be released). Soil physiochemistry analysis indicated variability in the major soil nutrients and pH across locations. All, but three YPs required liming to raise soil pH to normal, and most sites were low in nitrogen (N). Consequently, chicken compost-based soil amendment was recommended to deliver either the standard (1X, 92kg N/ha) rate or 1.5X (138 kg N/ha) the standard rate. A check with no added amendment served as control. Preliminary field observations showed that the 1X and 1.5X rates were beneficial in the vegetable crops. These observations were supported by SFW data where movement from Quadrant D to C were recorded at the end of the first year. Under Objective 3, the focus has been to develop soil health management strategies based on understanding the biophysiochemical process-based outcomes of soil conditions in response to agronomic practices. We use a combination of the fertilizer use efficiency (FUE) and the Ferris et al. SFW models along with multi-factor interactions as tools. The SFW model identifies best-to-worst case outcomes for nutrient cycling and agroecosystem health. The FUE model separates nutrient deficiency and toxicity from suppressing harmful while increasing beneficial organisms and identifies best-to-worst case outcomes for efficiency and sustainability for crop yield, agrobiology, the soil environment and soil health. Using the three analytical tools, we demonstrated that it takes at least 3 years to get to a steady-state of soil health (Habteweld et al., 2018) and biophysiochemical indicators segregating by soil type, suggesting that soil health management strategies are likely to be applied on a location-specific rather one-size-fits-all approach (Melakeberhan et al., 2018). A major component of Objective 4 has been understanding the biology and adaptation of the soybean cyst nematode (SCN, Heterodera glycines) with special emphasis on SCN-virgin soil subjected to Midwest cropping and tillage practices. SCN was introduced into a new location where tillage (chisel plow and no-till) and monocropping of either maize (Zea mays, C), SCN-resistant (R), -susceptible (S) soybean (Glycine max), or RCRC or SCSC rotations were initiated. Fifteen years after the project was initiated, SCN is still at barely detectable levels, suggesting that it takes longer than this study period to increase its populations. Interaction effects of tillage, rotation and/or time on SCN suggest that outcomes vary by agronomic practice and time, providing agrobiologically based understanding of SCN establishment in a new location. Another aspect of SCN adaptation that we have been looking at is relative to beneficial nematodes. We found that conditions that favor fast reproducing beneficial nematodes (c-p 2) appear to favor SCN as well, suggesting that SCN favors disturbed or tilled systems. This is a significant contribution to our understanding of SCN establishment and management in a new location relative to tillage and rotation, and the biological communities that drive the nutrient cycling processes. On-going are studies to elucidate the relationships between the norther root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne hapla) and soil microbes in vegetable production soils. As part of developing a scalable soil health management strategies (Objective 5), we are building our science and mental modeling data base on Andisol and Mollisol soil groups in Guatemala, and in Ferralsols, Lithosols and Vertisols in Malawi.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Cheng, Z., H. Melakeberhan, S. Mennan, and P.S. Grewal (2018). Relationship between soybean cyst nematode Heterodera glycines and soil nematode community under long-term tillage and crop rotation. Nematropica 48, 101-115.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Habteweld, A. W., Brainard, D. C., Kravchenko, A. N., Grewal, P. S. & Melakeberhan, H. (2018). Effects of plant and animal waste-based compost amendments on soil food web, soil properties, and yield and quality of fresh market and processing carrot cultivars. Nematology 20, 147-168.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Melakeberhan, H., Maung, Z.T.Z., Lee, C-L., Poindexter, S., Stewart, J. (2018). Soil type-driven variable effects on cover- and rotation-crops, nematodes and soil food web in sugar beet fields reveal a roadmap for developing healthy soils. European Journal of Soil Biology 85, 53-63.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Chan, C., P. LaPorte, J. Chan-Dentoni, B. S Sipes, A. Sanchez, A. Sacbaja, and H. Melakeberhan (2018). Assisting smallholder farmers in adopting integrated nematode-soil health management: I  Fuzzy cognative mapping to understand grower perceptions. Society of Nematologists 57th Annual Meeting Abstracts: 39.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Kakaire, S., K. Njira, L. Chilasa, and H. Melakeberhan (2018). Assessment of the biophysicochemical conditions of selected fruit and vegetable soils for establishing sustainable value chain production in Malawi. Society of Nematologists 57th Annual Meeting Abstracts: 64.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Kakaire, S., A. Sanchez, B S. Sipes, C.-L. Lee, A. Sacbaja, C. Chan, and H. Melakeberhan (2018). Assisting smallholder farmers in adopting integrated nematode-soil health management: III  Changes in soil biophysiochemistry. Society of Nematologists 57th Annual Meeting Abstracts: 65.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: LaPorte, P., C. Chan, B. S Sipes, A. Sanchez, A. Sacbaja, and H. Melakeberhan (2018). (Assisting smallholder farmers in adopting integrated nematode-soil health management: II  Fuzzy cognative mapping identifying gaps between experts and farmers perceptions. Society of Nematologists 57th Annual Meeting Abstracts: 69.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: P. LaPorte, J. Chan-Dentoni, C. Chan, B. Sipes, H. Melakeberhan, and A. Mejia. 2018. Perception of potato practices and their impacts by farmers in Guatemala using fuzzy cognitive mapping. 30th International Conference of Agricultural Economics. Vancouver, Canada.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sanchez, A., G. I. Alverez, B. S. Sipes, S. Kakaire, C.-L. Lee, A. Sacbaja, C. Chen, and H. Melakeberhan (2018). Assisting smallholder farmers in adopting integrated nematode-soil health management: IV  Changes in cyst nematode population density and potato yield. Society of Nematologists 57th Annual Meeting Abstracts: 89-90.

Progress 05/01/17 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Agriculturists, agronomists, biologists, ecologists, economists, environmentalists, policy makers, soil scientists, and sustainable production specialists. Changes/Problems:Due to circumstances that arose after the project was approved, I will not be working on the nematode-virus complexes in Michigan perennial croppping systems as described under Objective No. 2. At this stage, our efforst on biological management in perennial cropping systems will be focused on tropical fruits. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two postdocs, two gradaute students and several undergraduates students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Yes per conference publication What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Accomplish the objectives in stages

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? All but, Objective 4 will be conducted in temperate and tropical cropping systems. In addition to on-going studies on field crops in temperate climates (Objective 1). In addition, we have initiated new studies on potatoes and soon will on vegetable and fruit crops in tropical climates to test how soil amendments affect soil health grower profits (Objective 2 and 3). Studies that test Objective 4 include the long-term (since 2001) study on soybean cysts (SCN) adaptation and reproduction and parasitic variability of SCN and the northern root-knot nematode. The most exciting part of our approach to scalable soil health management strategies (Objective 5) is the inclusion of mental modeling (social science approach to understanding human behavior). In the previous phase of the umbrella project, it was obvious that different communities had different understanding of and impact on soil health. In this phase, the mental modeling will bridge the gap through analyzing how the scientists, growers, and community at-large approach the same problem and/or solution. This is being tested in Andisol and Mollisol soil groups in the highlands of Guatemala occupied by different societies, who face substantial yield losses from the potato cyst nematode (PCN) and poor soil health. As part of the mental modeling, farmers were part of designing the experiment. Through the mental modeling approach, the team will be testing how the growers adopt the soil health and nematode management outcomes of the experiments that they co-designed as well as scalability across soil groups and socio-cultures in Guatemala.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: LaPorte, Patricia, B. Sipes, H. Melakeberhan, C. Chan, A. Sanchez-Perez, and A. Sacbaja 2017. An interdisciplinary assessment of integrated nematode-soil health management for smallholder potato farming systems in western highlands of Guatemala. Society of Nematologists Annual Meeting proceedings, 83-84.