Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:Growers Fellow Scientists, academic professionals and researchers Extension professionals Students Water Managers Policy Makers General Public Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Three undergraduate students were trained in various laboratory, greenhouse and field protocols to implement the experimental design. Students were trained in collection, processing, and analyses of soil, irrigation water and plant samples using standard procedures. Students also received training on recording observations in greenhouse, and laboratory. Three postdoctoral scientists were supported by this project during 2022-2023. Of the three postdocs one is located at Amarillo TX and two are at El Paso, TX. The postdoc at Amarillo was provided training by Dr. Xue on designing and implementing salinity screening experiments. One of the post-doctoral scientists at El Paso working with Dr. Kumar was trained in running the UAV campaign and analysis of data collected from hyperspectral and bench scale imaging. The second post-doctoral scientist at El Paso is working with Dr. Ganjegunte. He received training on designing field experiments to evaluate canola varieties under irrigation with marginal quality waters. He was responsible for overseeing various tasks of field study, training undergraduate students, collecting data and statistical analyses. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Preliminary results of the study have been disseminated to communities of interest via scientific conferences, local extension meetings and meetings with irrigation district management.During the reminder of the years project team in collaboration with local extension agents will disseminate the results of this research to potential canola producers in the region. Water quality results will be shared with farmers and interpreted with another Excel worksheet developed with the NRCS. Dr. Flynn will offer continuing education credits for Certified Crop Advisers on field days. His location at Artesia, NM will host field days for the local area and those that can travel including students from the local schools with an agriculture or FFA program. Field days will be held during every growing season to demonstrate the potential of canola as a novel crop in the region. Results of the project will be disseminated in meetings with growers, water utilities, irrigation districts, regional/national/ international scientific meetings, and conferences. Findings of this research will be published as technical report(s) and peer-reviewed technical articles in scientific journals, fact sheets and extension articles. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Goal 1. Identify salt tolerant cultivars of canola using growth chamber/greenhouse approach Results from salt screening and physiological response studies will be presented in the ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meetings. Soil and plant samples collected from salinity screening experiments will be analyzed for select parameters. Screening of 24 cultivars is an ongoing activity and data is being collected and analyzed to evaluate salinity tolerance mechanisms of different cultivars. During the years 3 and 4, studies will focus on top 5 varieties to evaluate physiological responses to different salinity levels. During fall of 2023 and spring of 2024 Dr. Xue team will travel to El Paso, TX and Artesia NM to carryout field physiological and phenological measurements. These include plant height, number of leaves, stomatal conductance, gas exchanges, chlorophyll fluorescence, relative chlorophyll content, leaf area index, canopy temperature, and light interception. Data from various physiological studies from greenhouse and field will be summarized to identify most salt tolerant cultivars, salt tolerance mechanisms and develop plant management strategies for elevated salinity. Goal 2. Evaluate performance (physiological response and yield) of select salt tolerant canola cultivar(s) irrigated with marginal quality water irrigation under field conditions using conventional physiology methods as well as UAV imaging. We will continue to process harvested canola pods from the plots. After recording the yield, a subsample (~20 g) of canola seeds will be dried and ground to < 1 mm and will be sent to external laboratory for determining select seed quality parameters by near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy and wet digestion methods. These include seed oil content, ash content, and mineral constituents (Na, Ca, Mg, K, and S). Seed oil yield will be calculated by multiplying the seed yields with their respective final oil contents. During fall of 2022, due to frost damage, crop in Artesia was lost and cultivar evaluation at Artesia is being carried out under greenhouse conditions. Field evaluation of canola during next spring will provide at least two years of data on seed yield at both El Paso, TX and Artesia, NM. Goal 3. Determine changes to soil properties, including salinity, to develop appropriate and best management practices. Soil samples collected from root-zone depths (0-15 cm, 15-30 cm, 30-45 cm, 45-60 cm and 60-100 cm) will be processed and analyzed for select properties such pH, electrical conductivity (EC), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), major cations (sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium), major anions (chlorides, sulfates, phosphates and nitrates), total nitrogen and organic carbon using standard procedures. Changes in soil salinity/sodicity, hydraulic conductivity and nutrients availability will be monitored under control and saline water irrigation. Data from soil chemical and physical properties changes as a result of saline water irrigation will be used to develop appropriate management practices to minimize the impacts. Hyperspectral imaging using UAV and bench scale plant imaging will continue for next two years. During the first-year campaign protocols were developed and students/postdocs were trained. In the coming years, aerial hyperspectral imaging and bench top plant imaging will be conducted at both plant screening stage in the greenhouse and plant performance studies in the field sites. Data collected from imaging will be correlated with select plant stress indicators such as turgidity, salt content, greenness/chlorophyll concentrations and nutrients concentrations. Plant canopy reflectance data (hyperspectral) and thermal maps will also be used to derive a suite of vegetation indices relevant to water and nutrient status. The UAV images will be used to estimate plant height, leaf area, plant stress, density, and biomass in combination with ground truthing and verification. Machine learning models will be developed to detect abiotic stress in canola using indices or combination of parameters. Goal 4. Evaluate economic feasibility of producing winter canola with marginal water. We will continue to develop data on cost of various inputs, tillage and labor used in production to obtain accurate enterprise budget for cost-benefit analysis of using marginal quality waters for canola production. The economic feasibility of canola production will be evaluated by carefully assessing the establishment and operating costs, as well as potential revenues. Specifically, tailored enterprise budgets will be elaborated for each possible combination of crop, irrigation system and location to determine initial investment, production cost, and profitability. The establishment costs, which include planting and maintenance, will be amortized over the lifecycle of the crops. The operation costs will be calculated based on the input management requirements estimated from this study. The revenue of production will be estimated based on the observed crop yields from this study along with current crops' market prices. Enterprise budgets' results will be used to evaluate and rank the probability of success of canola crop under different production alternatives and locations. Additionally, economic feasibility results will be used to assess the relative profitability of the canola crops in question compared with traditional crops.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1. Spring and winter canola cultivars (24) were evaluated for salinity tolerance during emergence and at seedling stage in growth chamber and greenhouse at Bushland, TX. Seedling emergence experiments were conducted in a growth chamber over a 10-d period. Genotypes were evaluated under six levels of salinity (deionized water (control), 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 dS/m) with three replications randomized in a two-way factorial design. Preliminary data on biomass, photosynthetic gas-exchange, and chlorophyll-a fluorescence under different salinity levels are provided below.Across all cultivars in both winter and spring types, increasing salinity significantly reduced plant leaf area and biomass per plant. There were significant differences in leaf area and biomass among cultivars at different salinity levels. For winter canola cultivars, cultivars Athena, CP225WRR and Ericka are top performers with greater leaf area and biomass production, indicating these cultivars are more tolerant to salinity than other cultivars. Among the spring cultivars across various salinity levels, CP9978TF, Gem and PI601200 had greater leaf area, while CP930RR, CP9978TF and PI97352 had greater biomass.Gas-exchange and chlorophyll-a fluorescence measurements were done on six canola cultivars including three each of winter (Athena, CP225WRR, Salut) and spring (Empire, PI597352, PI432395) types. These cultivars in each set contrasted in biomass production. In general, across both winter and spring canola types, salinity stress showed a negative effect on photosynthetic gas exchange parameters including transpiration rate (E), net photosynthesis rate (Pn), inter-cellular CO2(Ci), stomatal conductance (gs) with a declining trend to increasing salt levels (Figure 1). Between the canola types, such gas-exchange parameters had relatively high values for spring cultivars compared to the winter types across all salinity levels. For instance, cultivars Empire and PI432395 showed relatively high salinity tolerance across all salt levels among both canola types. Among chlorophyll-a fluorescence parameters, a similar trend was observed for quantum yield (CO2) of PSII. Contrarily, salt stress had limited impact on effective quantum efficiency of PSII (Fv'/Fm') and electron transfer rate (ETR), particularly at high salinity level of 10 ds m-1. The non-photo-chemical quenching (NPQ) increased gradually with increasing salinity levels, however, such effect increased sharply beyond salinity level of 8 ds m-1. Overall, the results suggest negative impacts of salinity stress on photosynthetic capacity and conversely, an increased NPQ likely as a mechanism of photoprotection. Objective 2. During the fall of 2021 three winter varieties of canola (CP322WRR, CP220WR, CP115W) were evaluated at El Paso, TX and Artesia, NM study sites. These were selected based on screening of canola varieties in the greenhouse. Since the study sites were abandoned cotton fields, plots were fertilized with adequate amounts of N, P2O5, and K2O (120 lb/acre) and irrigated with equal amounts of about 24 inches of fresh and waste waters to their respective plots. Weed control was achieved by using roundup. Among the three winter varieties CP320WRR performed better than the other two with an average seed yield of 1650 lb/acre. During 2023 we evaluated three spring cultivars (CP930RR, CP955RR, and CP9978TF) at both El Paso, TX and Artesia, NM study sites based on the greenhouse screening results. Level and nutrients and amount of freshwater and treated wastewaters were same as 2021 fall experiments. We did not notice any pest problems and therefore no plant protection chemicals were applied. Canola was harvested in late May and seed yields were recorded. All three spring cultivars performed better than winter varieties planted during previous fall with CP930RR producing the highest yield (2576 lb/acre). UAS-based imaging was performed over the canola experimental field plots at Socorro, TX, on April 15, 2022, May 10, 2022, and April 26, 2023. These dates were chosen to represent critical times in the growth cycle of the Canola crop. Data from four imagers Micasensce Altum (multispectral + low-res thermal), PikaL (hyperspectral 400-1000nm), PikaNIR (hyperspectral 1000-1700nm), and ICI 8640P(thermal high resolution) were collected during each flight to detect changes and anomalies in Canola response under different treatments. There were clear differences between the Canola irrigated both with freshwater (blue) and wastewater (green) in the visible as well as SWIR range freshwater (purple) and reclaimed water/wastewater (cyan). Concomitantly with UAS flights, we collected canola leaf samples from all experimental field plots and scanned them in the lab under halogen lightsusing a bench imaging system. We performed bench imaging using hyperspectral (PikaL and PikaNIR) cameras on April 17, 2022, and May 05, 2022. The same leaves were later digested in the lab to get the nutrient content of canola leaves under different water types and amendments. We are in the process of developing numerical models that will predict the leaf nutrients based on the imaging spectra. In restricted areas such as a greenhouse, where UAS flights cannot be performed, a tripod-based imaging system was used. This year we performed tripod system-based hyperspectral (PikaL) imaging of canola pots at Amarillo/Bushland AgriLife Research Center on May 02 and 03, 2023. Canola pots of 24 varieties were planted under six water salinity levels 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 dS/m. During our visit, we also measured the canopy temperature of each canola pot using an infrared radiometer (apogee) and estimated the average plant temperature under different salinity treatments. Objective 3. Soil samples prior to and at the end of the cropping season at both El Paso, TX and Artesia, NM study sites were collected from root-zone depths (0-15 cm, 15-30 cm, 30-45 cm, 45-60 cm and 60-100 cm), processed and analyzed for select properties such as pH, electrical conductivity (EC), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), major cations (sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium), major anions (chlorides, sulfates, phosphates and nitrates), total nitrogen and organic carbon using standard procedures. Information from the soil test results on exchangeable sodium/SAR and native gypsum content from web soil survey will be utilized to develop appropriate amendment practices. Soil chemical data will be used to evaluate the effects of marginal quality water irrigation on soil properties (salinity, sodicity, hydraulic conductivity) and develop appropriate salinity management practices. Grab samples of irrigation water have been collected at monthly intervals and were analyzed for pH, EC, SAR, major cations and anions as per standard procedures. Irrigation with wastewater did not have any significant effects on pH, and salinity (electrical conductivity). However, there was a significant increase in root zone sodium adsorption ratio in wastewater irrigated plots because wastewater contained significantly higher sodium concentrations. While the SAR values increased in none of the plots it reached the threshold value of 13. Since the SAR is increasing from 2023 fall/2024 spring both fresh and wastewater plots will be amended with gypsum to reduce sodicity of the root zone. Objective 4. Dr. Zapata has shared data sheets among study task leaders to keep track of quantities and costs of various inputs used in the field study. This data will be used to develop enterprise budget and to conduct benefit cost analysis. He is also keeping track of Canola market outlook and circulates among project PIs.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
3. Palmate, S. Kumar, A. Johnson, V.N. Chaganti, G.K. Ganjegunte. 2022. Hyperspectral Sensing for Monitoring changes in Arid region Canola crops under different treatments. 3. Palmate, S. Kumar, A. Johnson, V.N. Chaganti, G.K. Ganjegunte. 2022. Hyperspectral Sensing for Monitoring changes in Arid region Canola crops under different treatments. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2022
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
1. Ganjegunte, G.K., V.N. Chaganti, Q. Xue, A.U. Ulery, R. P. Flynn, & S. Zapata. 2022. Developing Canola as an Alternative Crop for Marginal Lands Irrigated with Brackish Waters in the Southern Great Plains Region [Abstract]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2022am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/ 143541
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
2. Shrestha, R., Q. Xue, G.K. Ganjegunte, V.N. Chaganti, S. Kumar, A.L Ulery, R.P. Flynn, S. Zapata. 2022. Evaluation of Salinity Tolerance in Canola Genotypes during Emergence and at Seedling Stage. ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD.https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/ 2022am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/142857
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Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Growers Extension professionals Fellow scientists, academic professionals and researchers Students Water managers Policy makers General public Changes/Problems:Canola crop at Artesia was lost due to an extreme frost event. We plan to repeat the field study at Artesia in the coming years to obtain consistent reliable data. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Three undergraduate students were trained on various laboratory, greenhouse and field protocols to implement the experimental design. Students were trained on collection, processing, and analyses ofsoil, irrigation water and plant samples using standard procedures. Students also received training on recording observations in greenhouse, and laboratory. Dr. Kumar involved undergraduate students in UAV campaigns at field and bench scale imaging at laboratory to provide them hands-on learning opportunity in this emerging science. Of three postdoctoral scientists supported by this project one is located at Amarillo TX and two are at El Paso, TX. The postdoc at Amarillo was provided training by Dr. Xue on designing and implementing salinity screening experiments. Two postdoc scientists at El Paso were provided opportunity to participate in a workshop that trained them on use of Hydrus model to evaluate movement of water and salts in the root zone. One of the post-doctoral scientists at El Paso working with Dr. Kumar was trained on running the UAV campaign and analysis of data collected from hyperspectral and bench scale imaging. Secondpost-doctoral scientist at El Paso is working with Dr. Ganjegunte. He received training on designing field experiments to evaluate canola varieties under irrigation with marginal quality waters. He was responsible for overseeing various tasks of field study, training undergraduate students, collecting data and statistical analyses. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Nobecause the field study results are not available yet. Once the field studies are completed the data from salinity screeing, field studies and UAV campaigns will be shared among stakeholders. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Results from salt screening and physiological response studies will be presented in the 2022 ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting atBaltimore, MD. Soil and plant samples collected from salinity screening experiments will beanalyzed for select parameters. The study will be repeated in the fall-winter of 2022 and more physiological measurement will be taken to better understand physiological mechanisms for salt tolerance. At the field study sites, canola pods from each plant will be harvested and the seeds will be separated. After recording the yield, asubsample (~20 g) of canola seeds will be dried and ground to < 1 mm and will be sent to external laboratory for determining select seed quality parameters by near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy and wet digestion methods. These includeseed oil content, ash content, and mineral constituents (Na, Ca, Mg, K, and S). Seed oil yield will be calculated by multiplying the seed yields with their respective final oil contents. After the harvest ,end of the yearsoil samples will be collected from root-zone depths (0-15 cm, 15-30 cm, 30-45 cm, 45-60 cm and 60-100 cm), processed and analyzed for select properties such pH, electrical conductivity (EC), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), major cations (sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium), major anions (chlorides, sulfates, phosphates and nitrates), total nitrogen and organic carbon using standard procedures. Exchangeable sodium percentage in soil and sodium concentration in wastewater/groundwater will be used to determine if gypsum application is warranted. Field evaluation of canola performance and soil chemistry changes will continue for next two years to obtain consistent and reliable data to develop practices and strategies to promote greater use of marginal quality waters to produce canola in the region. We will hold field days/demonstrations during the coming growing seasons to create greater awareness about the project, share study results to promote increased adoption of canola by the growers in the region. We will continue to develop data on cost of various inputs, tillage and labor used in production to obtain accurate enterprise budget for cost-benefit analysis of using marginal quality waters for canola production.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Identify salt tolerant cultivars of canola using growth chamber/greenhouse approach Twenty - three (23) canola genotypes (Table 1) were evaluated for salinity tolerance during emergence and at seedling stage in growth chamber and greenhouse at Bushland, TX in March and April 2022. Seedling emergence experiments were conducted in a growth chamber over a 10 d period. Genotypes were evaluated under six levels of salinity (deionized water (control), 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 dS/m) with three replications randomized in a two-way factorial design. Different salinity solutions were prepared by adding sodium chloride to the distilled water. Seeds will be sown in 3.8 × 3.8 cm plug cells filled with potting mix premoistened with control or saline solution. Ten seeds were sown per cell at a depth of 1 cm. During seedling emergence, treatment solutions will be applied as needed by subirrigation. Throughout the experiment, day/night conditions of 12/12 h photoperiod, 25/20°C temperature under fluorescent lights. Emergence was counted daily at noon when the cotyledons and hypocotyl are above the potting mix surface. Two weeks later, seedlings from 20 genotypes were transplanted to plastic pots filled with potting mix and irrigated with control or saline waters in greenhouse. Plants were irrigated with treatment solution by surface flooding whenever the surface becomes dry and were harvested after 4 weeks. Throughout the experiment, the average greenhouse air temperature was 25°C during the day. After 4 weeks of transplanting, the relative chlorophyll content (i.e., soil-plant analysis development [SPAD]), leaf area, and aboveground dry weight were measured. The collected data (Table 2) are being analyzed 2. Evaluate performance (physiological response and yield) of select salt tolerant canola cultivar(s) irrigated with marginal quality water irrigation under field conditions using conventional physiology methods as well as UAV imaging. Three salt-tolerant cultivars-CP322WRR, CP220WR, CP115W provided by Mr. Michael J. Stamm, Canola Breeder at Kansas State University are being evaluated under field conditions. These three varieties were selected because they are roundup ready and salinity screening tests showed that these are salt tolerant. Roundup ready canola can be advantageous as it reduces the need for tillage, which improves overall soil conditions. Reduced tillage can also reduce cost of cultivation, which can benefit growers. Field studies to evaluate above three canola cultivars were initiated in early November of 2021 simultaneously at both the study locations - El Paso, TX and Artesia, NM. Both the sites are characterized by arid climate with an annual average precipitation of 6 inches and a potential evapotranspiration rate of 80 inches. Annual temperature ranges from about 25°F in winter to 97°F during summer. The dominant soil typeat both study sites wasCalcareous silty loam. A split-plot randomized complete block design with water types as main effect and varieties as sub-effect was implemented to evaluate canola performance. Source of saline water at El Paso, TX was treated urban wastewater whereas brackish groundwater was the source at Artesia, NM. Seeds were sown in early November 2021 and all plots received a basal application of NPK fertilizer at the recommended rate. Inter-row spacing of 6 inches and intra-row spacing of 4 inches were maintained. The final plant density stood at 220,000 per acre, which is close to the recommended planting density. Unfortunately, due to an extreme frost event we lost canola plants at Artesia study site. We plan to repeat field study during the fall of 2022. At El Paso study site field preparation in each of the 36 plots included initial disking, manually breaking of large clods, furrow and ridge formation, and demarcation of plots by raised earthen berms (approximately 20 cm in height). A total of 20 inches of irrigation water was applied in 8 irrigations. When the plants reached flowering stage, leaves closer to the flowering branch were collected for nutrient analysis. Six random leaf samples were collected from each plot and were analyzed for total nutrients. Also, plant height measurements were made at the flowering stage. When aphid/white infestation was seen, chloropyrifos was sprayed at the rate 2 oz/gallon. At present, canola is approaching maturity and we plan to harvest seeds in next two weeks. We conducted aerial hyperspectral imaging using UAV and bench scale plant imaging to understand and discriminate between stress response of three varieties to marginal quality water irrigation. Two campaigns were conducted, one at early flowing stage and other at the late flowering stage. The data is still being analyzed and is expected to allow us to: a) understand the power of aerial and bench hyperspectral analysis in identifying stress on canola, b) develop data analysis and processing methods for hyperspectral imaging specific to canola, and c) develop early indications of which variety performs better in the arid southwest conditions that may be communicated to the regional stakeholders. 3. Determine changes to soil properties, including salinity, to develop appropriate and best management practices. At both El Paso, TX and Artesia study sites baseline soil samples from root-zone depths (0-15 cm, 15-30 cm, 30-45 cm, 45-60 cm and 60-100 cm) have been collected, processed and analyzed for select properties such as pH, electrical conductivity (EC), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), major cations (sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium), major anions (chlorides, sulfates, phosphates and nitrates), total nitrogen and organic carbon using standard procedures. Information from the soil test results on exchangeable sodium/SAR and nativegypsum content from web soil surveywill be utilized todevelop appropriate amendment practices. Soil chemical data will be used to evaluate the effects of marginal quality water irrigation on soil properties (salinity, sodicity, hydraulic conductivity) and develop appropriate salinity management practices. Grab samples of irrigation water have been collected at monthly intervals and were analyzed for pH, EC, SAR, major cations and anions as per standard procedures. 4. Evaluate economic feasibility of producing winter canola with marginal water. Dr. Zapata has shared data sheets among study task leaders to keep track of quantities and costs of various inputs used in the field study. This data will be used to develop enterprise budget and to conduct benefit cost analysis. He is also keeping track of Canola market outlook and circulates among project PIs.
Publications
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