Progress 04/01/23 to 03/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience: Research: Collaborators, contemporary researchers, and External Scientific Advisory Committee (ESAC). Education: graduate and undergraduate students (courses, research experience, and project meetings). Extension: Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) growers, industry participants, small and underrepresented vegetable growers, and stakeholder advisory group (SAG), Changes/Problems:Project scope did not change. No major changes/problems encountered. Following changes in the project personnel: 1. Dr. Willam Hammond (University of Florida) joined the team in place of Dr. Elias Bassil since his departure. Dr. Bassil still serves and participates in the project meetings and provides insights. 2. Dr. Ray Huffaker retired (University of Florida). Will still participate in the project. 3. Dr. Patrick Wechter (Clemson University) joined the project team. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Hands-on training for undergraduate and graduate students have been provided.Stakeholder meetings with growers andindustry partners have been conducted. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A flyer on project description has been disseminated during stakeholder/extension meetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?[1] Pre-breeding and physiological phenotyping: Mustard greens:DNA will be extracted from a bulk sample of 10 S2 seedlings per accession (n=384accessionsfrom the salinity response extremes) for whole-genome resequencing.S2 seeds will be used for salinity screening in hydroponic Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) systems.Cucumber: 384 PIs and four commercial cultivars and Tomato: 476 accessions will be screened for salinity tolerance and 10 top lines each will be selected for further evaluation.We will optimize the throughput of the Plant Array phenotyping platform by discriminating via the earliest-warning signal for identifying salinity tolerance from stress responses. [2] Desalting technologies and salinity management processes: We will perform two-stage NF simulations to optimize the system for removal, feed pressures, and fluxes for seawater and inland brackish groundwater. We will conduct experiments with NF membranes and ED membranes. We will also evaluate brine management in Year 2. [3] Hydroponic CEA platform evaluation: In Year 2, the following work is planned: calibration for NFT systems for automated control, experiments to compare salinity responses in the Plant Array with NFT systems, water and nutrient balance in system based on environmental conditions, table-top NFT systems to study salinity stress, and imaging platform to predict biomass. [4] Techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA): The TEA/LCA literature reviews will be finalized and the data will be collated for entry into the models.The TEA/LCA model structure for the desalination and hydroponic systems will be finalized.Water balances on NFT input from source to water treatment to disposal and treatment of high salinity water to determine optimization of recycle of water and salts will be established. [5] Education: Teaching modules on CEA will be developed in collaboration with Clemson U. Image analysis tutorials as RLO for students in undergraduate students will be developed. [6] Extension: IST workshop on salinity management will be conducted. Needs assessment survey will be analyzed. Small NFT units will be deployed for demonstration.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
[1] Pre-breeding and physiological phenotyping: Mustard greens:B. juncea accessions (n=464) were self-pollinated in the greenhouse for two generations (S2), producing S2 seed to reduce heterozygosity, which improved the power to detect a signal with genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Twenty-six open-pollinated heirloom mustard green cultivars were purchased for salinity screening and as donor germplasm for desirable horticultural traits.Cucumber: Two germination experiments were conducted using brackish water dilutionsranging from 0 to 19.5 dS/m, to assess salinity tolerance of 12 commercially available cultivars. Tomato: Germplasm with diverse genetic backgrounds were obtained from the USDA-ARS tomato curators and the Tomato Genetic Resource Center for salt tolerance screening.The UF Plant Physiological Phenotyping Array (UFPPA) is a fully automated, sensor-based phenotyping platform equipped with a customized fertigation setup that allows the application of three customized solutions and enables real-time and simultaneous assessments of whole plant physiological performance. In Year 1, we established irrigation of 0, 20 and 50% of Instant Oceanmixed with boric acid, and two varieties of B. juncea;Giant Curl and Carolina Broadleaf. This set up was mainly to test the functionality of the UFPPA and build pipelines to be used further. [2] Desalting technologies and salinity management processes: We have developed two synthetic water recipes for experimental testing and process modeling. We have conducted preliminary evaluation of partial desalting technologies, nanofiltration (NF) and electrodialysis (ED), through process modeling. We have also assessed modeling of a two-stage brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) system for achieving near-complete desalting with the opportunity for source blending. We have acquired a number of NF membranes with a range of pore sizes and ED membranes of regular thickness and thin membranes as well as monovalent selective membranes. [3] Hydroponic CEA platform evaluation: Clemson: We have developed two small-scale hydroponic systems to provide guidance on set points and time course in the saline-nutritional ionic milieu.We designed and tested a Deep Water Culture (DWC) system with 20 liters of aerated solution per tank, enabling 9 plants per tank to be grown to harvest maturity.Eight independent Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) systems were built in a greenhouse at Clemson University's Coastal Research and Education Center in Charleston, SC. Each system is comprised of 10 channels with 14 openings for plants. USDA-ARS: We developed a protocol with suitable growing conditions for tomatoes growing in hydroponic, with prolific fruit production under a controlled environment in our converted shipping containers for both dwarf and indeterminate tomatoes. This system is important for the follow-up experiment to screen and produce tomato crops indoor under LED light.UFlorida: Agreenhouse at the Plant Science Research and Education Unit from the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at Citra, FL was procured and transitioned into a NFT Facility with 6 NFT systems 14 X 8 plants per unit. [4] Techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA): Two TEA/LCA modeling studies initiated, one on the hydroponic system and the other on the desalination system. Extensive literature review has been conducted forCEA and their respective technology systems as data inputs to TEA/LCA models.For the NFT, all parts, their costs, and where to purchase for building and monitoring the water treatment and NFT systems are available for the LCA. [5] Education: Clemson: Reviewed and identified state standards for (a) the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Stanards (Biology and Earth & Space Sciences) and (b) the secondary agricultural education Science Standards for alignment to the project objectives. Identified state standards that will be used in the recruitment of teachers for the summer course on topics related to the project, and photographed images of CEA research facilities for the reusuable learning objectives (RLOs). UFlorida: A team of undergraduates received hands-on training in building and calibrating 6-sensor suites, building a robot imager for phenotyping in CEA, and building NFT. A senior design project on automated phenotyping robot was established. [6] Extension: Clemson: Several stakeholder meetings conducted involving growers, smallholder and underrepresented farmer populations, and SAG. CEA Needs Assessment Survey developed. UFlorida: Initated planning for In-Service Training (IST) and workshops on salinity issues and management strategies in CEA. Extension factsheet has been developed on current challenges of salinity measurement-based nutrient management practices in CEA.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Shaik, A.A., Rahul Kumar, Karthikeyan, R. Kousik, C.S., 2024. Assessing brackish water tolerance in watermelon cultivars based on germination and root morphology. Annual meeting of the Southern Region American Society for Horticultural Science. February 2024.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Ling, K.-S., 2024. Overview of controlled environment agriculture research at USDA-ARS. Indoor Ag-Con, Las Vegas, NV, March 11-12, 2024.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Minocha, K., Correll, M., Coon, D., and ONeil. Phenotyping Brassica juncea to identify salt-tolerant genotypes in hydroponics. At the UF-Center for Precollegiate Education and Training, Student Science Training Program (UF-CPET-SSTP) Poster and Oral Symposium. July 27, 2023. Gainesville, FL.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Kalarchian, K. and Correll, M.J. Automating irrigation of mustard greens (Brassica juncea) for use with high salinity water sources. Presented at the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Research Symposium. March 7, 2024.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Pompeo, J., Correll, M., Tomlin, M., Adelberg, J., Karthikeyan, R., and E. Bassil. Pre-design and setup of a greenhouse in Citra, FL for evaluating the salt tolerance of mustard greens grown under saline irrigation. Presented at the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Research Symposium. March 7, 2024, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
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