Progress 06/01/23 to 05/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience: Audience - Texas rainfed cropping growers (40-50 individual growers). Current Texas Panhandle growers and No-Till Texas members. The USDA Risk Management Agency (USDA-RMA). Most of these individuals are reached through PI Craig Bednarz through spring growers' meetings. At these places, he presents current findings from rainfed cropping practices connected to this project. Audience - Undergraduate engineering students (20 of them). In spring 2024, student from Engineering Technology (ET) 2371, Materials and Fabrication/Metals and Ceramics, the course that PI Sanjoy Bhattacharia taught, visited the Engineering Core Laboratory (ECORE) lab to know about the instrument and their applicability of material characterization research. One aspect of this material characterization was properties of biochar and rainfed soils used in this project. Audience - Graduate interdisciplinary engineering graduate students (8 of them). In the Fall of 2023, PI Nathan Howellgot to teach the course EVEG 6392 Engineering instrumentation and experimentation. During that class, students who were doing research with him or knew of his research in biochar took it upon themselves to do an independent project which involved a comparison on cotton gin waste biochar (CGW-BC) with beef cattle manure biochar (BCM-BC). From this experience, the eight (8) students in this graduate class were all exposed to biochar in terms of its properties, its usefulness, and its physical appearance in a way that was not like what they had done previously. Audience - Undergrad and graduate student independent researchers (1 grad, 1 undergrad). In the Spring of 2024, an undergraduate student who PI Nathan Howellhad engaged in other research and a graduate student who had been in his previous instruments class (EVEG 6392, mentioned above) previously, decided to take on a biochar related project with an internal grant that they won at WTAMU. They decided to use the pyrolysis reactors that we created for this USDA project with a paper that they had read about coffee ground biochar in concrete production to learn how to incorporate biochar into concrete. Such incorporation might eventually be something in this region that would be a useful application for cotton gin waste biochar. The project became a final non-thesis report for the graduate student. It helped to culminate several years of interest in biochar that she had begun to develop before this project began (June 1, 2023), but she was able to take the biochar into a new application for her becuase of all of the biochar production activities enabled by this project. Audience - Graduate and undergradute researchers on project (4 grad, 1 undergrad). In addition to all of the student who benefit from this project in the first year, there are now four (4) graduate students that were trained from periods lasting 6-12 months since project start (depending on when they were hired), and there is one (1) undergraduate student that has been trained for about 2 months to do more work this summer of 2024. Changes/Problems:There are a few considerations which might be considered to be problems or chaneswhich mainly relate to PI Nathan Howell's work with biochar production, characterization, and application. They are: The frequency of biochar application - We did not specify how often we would be applying biochar small sub-plots in the rainfed cropping systems run by PI Craig Bednarz. In discussion with PIs Bednarz, Brandani, and Bhattacharia, it seemed that it would be best to apply biochar of similar production type and identical rates to the same crop plots year after year. This will allow us to have the greatest chance to see the effects on soil health and agronomic performance. This is not really a change but a clarification. Having never been able to apply biochar at scale to agricultural lands and, being that this is not yet a common practice, we simply had not considered if a once application or annual would be better. Looking at literature and our own observations, it makes sense to us to have a continual application. We considered have some sub-plots where we had a single application and one where applied annually. In looking at the size of our sub-plots and how well the biochar remains on the plots in the Texas Panhandle wind, we think an annual application is best. We are certainly open to ideas from USDA-NIFA program officers on this, and PI Howell will be contacting all of them in order to discuss this further. Laboratory flooding at West Texas A&M University - The premier shared laboratory space for WTAMU is the Engineering Core Laboratory, which is primarily composed of one large room and some side rooms (total area 200 m2, 2150 ft2) at the Palo Duro Research Facility (PDRF) building on the east end of our Canyon, TX campus. Due to no fault of anyone working in this shared resource, a ceiling hot water pipe burst in early January 2024 and destroyed or damaged much of our equipment due to hot temperature (it was a hot water line), humidity, splatter, or submersion. The university is working with the external company that constitutes the university Physical Plant department, SSC, to coordinate repairs at the SSC's expense. They are liable for operational failtures in climate control systems like this as part of their contract with the university. We expect to beging purchasing replacement instrumentation beginning August 2024. We will update USDA-NIFA on this process as it is a a major factor in the progress of this project. Many aspects of thermal, material, and environmental characterization needed from field samples and lab-scale experiments use this equipment. To keep the project on pace for completion, we have taken three actions--(1) sending some samples to external contract laboratories, (2) holding some samples, those that can be held, in dry and/or cold storage for analysis when instruments are back up and running, and (3) pursuing swift action to SSC for them to complete any legal and financial negoations concerning fault and replacements so that our downtime is minimized. Soil sampling frequency - An examination in the original proposal document approved by USDA-NIFA for this award reveals in Table 2 and related sections that we intended to conduct quarterly sampling for soil health and physical/chemical characteristics. We thought this level of frequency was warranted. Having now looked at preliminary data, begun before project funding, PIs Brandani and Howell have agreed that it makes more sense for soil sampling to be conducted semiannually (twice per year, in the fall and in the spring) due to two factors. One is the amount of labor required to collect and analyze sampels and two is that the cost-benefit for quarterly sampling does not seem warranted to us. We have not thus far seen enough changes in soil health parameters to justify sampling which is so frequent. If we start to see higher temporal dynamics in any of the soil properties or in particular cropping system types (the three of conventional cotton, wheat cotton fallow rotation, rye summer blend cotton rotation), then we may in some instances increase the sampling frequency. As is the case with item 1. frequency of biochar application, we are extremely open to any suggestions, guidance, or outright directives from USDA-NIFA program officers on this point. We invite your counsel and your criticism on anything we have provided anywhere in this report. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training, graduate (4)and undergraduate students (1).Here is a list of graduate students have been trained on the project this first year of the project and generally in what skills the have been trained. Tamara Chapman, agricultural sciences master's student,has been trained for soil and biomass sampling, soil respiration, and soil dry aggregate stability. Syed Numair Abbas, mechanial engineering master's student,has been trained in thermal materials properties characterization techniques and experimental design related to biological materials including soil, biochar, and crop residue. Leo Binoy, environmental enginering master's student, has been trained in techniques for soil carbon mineralization incubation experiments, experimental design, environmental chemsitry, small-scale biochar production, solid materials processing (crushing, sieving, washing), and basic water quality analysis (electrical conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature). David Takal,environmental enginering master's student, has been trained in techniques for biochar production, biochar material characterization, energy and mass balances, leading teams of undergraduate students in design projects, and welding manufacurting was required to build three different pilot scale biochar reactors. Clover Watson, environmental science undergraduate student,has and is still being trained in working and collaborating on laboratory analysis and field sampling in rainfed cropping plots. Professional development - data science module.With the preliminary research data collected, the team developed data science modules that were primarily focused on the application of data science within the agriculture industries. This module aimed to enhance employment opportunities and skills development by covering areas such as data preprocessing, exploratory data analysis, application of machine learning algorithms, computer vision, and model optimization. Designed for high school students, undergraduates, and working professionals, these modules demonstrated the applicability of data science in agriculture, specifically in crop weed prediction, using data gathered through the project. This allowed our research team to build this research into educational components that could be used to teach data science and their applications to users with different levels of computing backgrounds. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? PI Yong Yang has conducted a demonstration of the You Only Look Once (YOLO) machine-learning model was showcased during a monthly meeting of the student chapter of Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) at West Texas A&M University. The students demonstrated keen interest in the technology. PI Craig Bednarz has presented results from our studies at meeting for growers and our industry partners. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? PI Craig Bednarz will be completing the following - Plant trials this summer of 2024, collect soil moisture data, collect yield data, collect fiber quality data, assist with soil heath data and biochar application, collect Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS)data. PI Sanjoy Bhatacharia will be doing the following -Completion of proximate analysis for oxidative environment analysis half of the experiment;optimizing the methods for TGAfor assisting the biochar production team and reduce costs by providing in-house testing facility; focusing on specific heat measurement via DSC and gather data on soil, soil + biochar, soil + other additives (hay, leaves, fibers etc.); conducting further the elemental analysis of the biochar samples SEM and XRD; and finding a way to get some of his results to communities of interest that he can identify. PI Carol Brandani will conclude, by June 2025, a set of soil health indicators (soil respiration, active C, N-labile, Betaglucosidase, dry aggregate stability, soil resistance) for the two seasons of 2023 and 2024, and annual results for bulk density. Also, we will have results for the physical fractionation of soil organic matter and the respective content of C and N for each of the Light, particulate, and mineral fractions, and bulk density. PI Nathan Howell will be conducting the following: Semiannual sampling - Fractionation of the carbon in soil, soil+bc, and soil+bc+residue fields samples according to its type. Also, aiding Graduate researcher Tamara Chapman to learn how to obtain the hydraulic conductivity of soils from the field. Mineralization experiments - Incorporating carbon fractionation into results at the beginning and end of experiment. Finishing a complete 5-7 factor study on how mineralization proceeds under different conditions relevant to the field with Graduate researcher Leo Binoy. Such work should be submitted or nearly submitted for publication by a year from now. Biochar production scales manuscript - Graduate researcher David Takal will have completed his thesis project on biochar production scales and types (batch, continuous) will have published this work in a journal suitable for bioconversion processes or cotton gin waste residue. PIs Yong Yand and Vinitha Subburaj will be working on the following: Gathering image datasets from the Agricultural group and prepare them by labeling the instances of weeds in all images. Training the YOLO model and evaluate its performance. Employing the trained model to identify weeds in the cotton field and generate a weed pressure map for the area. Sharingthe weed pressure map with the Agricultural group and solicit feedback. Then they will seek suggestions for enhancements. Drafting a manuscript for publication based on the findings and outcomes.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1 - Sustainable rainfed crop production Rainfed trials were conducted at the USDA-ARS-CPRL in Bushland, TX in 2023. Soil profile moisture dynamics were monitored using moisture probes obtained through a Texas A&M AgriLife equipment grant. As hypothesized, soil moisture depletion in the skip row configuration occurred at a reduced rate compared to the solid row configuration. Lint yield per unit land area was similar between the two row configurations. Loan value and gross return were also similar between the two row configurations. The impactfrom this work is that the results from this single environment suggest rainfield cotton yield may not be impacted by row configuration. Pre-plant soil moisture and in-season rainfall will likely impact future results. Future economic analyses will determine annualized net returns. The skip row configuration will reduce seed cost by half, which can make rainfed cropping practices, with a view towards enhanced soil health, more likely to be profitable to growers. Objective 2 - Soil health interventions using biochar Soil respiration.Soil samples collected in March 2023 (spring) showed higher values for soil respiration (1.76 mg C-CO2 kg-1 soil) than soil samples collected in November (1.02 mg C-CO2 kg-1 soil). Wheat and Rye (2.04 and 1.93 C-CO2 kg-1 soil) positively impacted soil respiration compared to Cotton (1.32 C-CO2 kg-1 soil). Biochar application (1 and 5%) resulted in higher soil respiration for all crops, except for wheat at 5% of Biochar. Soil samples collected in Nov 2023 evidenced higher soil respiration (1.07 mg C-CO2 kg-1 soil) for the Wheat plots compared to Rye and Cotton (1.02 and 0.96 mg C-CO2 kg-1 soil, respectively). The biochar at a 5% rate resulted in higher CO2 efflux (1.34 mg C-CO2 kg-1 soil) compared to 0 and 1 % (0.85 and 0.86 mg C-CO2 kg-1 soil, respectively). Higher CO2 efflux is in indicator of a more active soil microbiome which means that soil health increases and soil may ultimately be more productive. The outcome thus far is that residue and biochar application, even as a short of time scale as we have observed so far (just 8-12 months), has an effect on the soil microbiota which will be of benefit both environmental and agronomically. Biomass characterization.The rye cereal and wheat were chemically characterized (N, Ca, P, Mg, and K) for each of the biochar rates (0,1, and 5%). There were no differences between biochar rates, but the wheat and rye were different for N and C contents. The wheat presented higher N and Ca contents (3.83 % and 0.57 % of N and Ca, respectively)) than Rye Cereal (3.62 % and 0.53 % of N and Ca, respectively). The overall average for the P, Mg, and K contents was 0.32 % for P, 0.22 % for Mg, and 3.53 % for K. These dry residues will eventually become part of the soil matrix. The C, N, P, and K are important elements needed for soil microbiota. It not yet clear in what way or over what time these elements will become available for soil microbes. It is important for soil health, however, that this eventually occurs, and it is something we will be observing. Biochar production and properties characterization for cotton gin waste.The publication in Bioconversion & Biorefinery that was approved this year has some impacts could provide some benefits to broad audiences. It is the first publication to rigorously examine the biochar production potential for cotton gin waste. Being that CGW has a global annual production of 50 million metric tons and the Texas High Plains alone has a production rate of 1-1.5 million metric tons, this is a waste that, if it could be increased in value, it would be wise to attempt to do so. We were able to show that cotton gin waste can be converted into a high quality biochar at temperatures that can be commonly achieved by either farmers or industry with a yield of 30-40% compared to the original mass of cotton gin waste. The paper therefore should encourage industry (bioconversion operators, farmers, ranchers, biochar designers)about the economic viability of this conversion process, can help reduce the mass of cotton gin waste which is a fire hazard as it is currently stockpiled, and it can create a new industry, large-scale biochar production, that is fitting for the regional context. The CGW comes from the Texas High Plains, and it can remain to benefit soils in the same region once this lab-scale study is increased in scale and more technoeconomic considerations are developed. Objective 3 - Analytics and data Researched thoroughly about a machine-learning classificationmethod called You Only Look Once for spotting objects and understood how it works. Through this research, we trained a computer program using basic data and checked if it could find and name different types of weeds. This model, in coming project years, will allow us to evaluate the effectiveness of rainfed cropping practices, like no-till and leaving residual crop residue on the land. We can answer the question, "Do these practices actually demonstrate that the weed pressure is reduced in rainfed systems, using soil health practices?"
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
2023. Dryland crop practices for profitability. Randall County Producer Pre-Plant Meeting. Canyon, TX.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
2023. Semi-arid Agriculture Systems Institute Research Update. 71st Annual West Texas Agricultural Chemicals Institute Conference. Lubbock, TX.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
2023. Australian cotton production overview, common challenges and opportunities for improving WUE. 71st Annual West Texas Agricultural Chemicals Institute Conference. Lubbock, TX.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
2023. Cover crop best management practices for sustainable cotton production in the Texas High Plains. Texas State Support Committee Review. Lubbock, TX.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Brandani, C. B., Meyer, B., Duvall, B., Bednarz, C. 2023. Soil health indicators from Dryland Cotton Cropping Systems: preliminary data of a prospective long-term experiment. In 2023 OAP Annual meeting, Canyon, TX
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Brandani, C. B; Meyer, B; Duvall, B.; Bednarz, C. 2023. Impact of Dryland Cotton Cropping Systems on Soil Health. 2023 ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting. Oct. 29- Nov. 1, St. Louis, Missouri, US
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Howell, N.; Bhattacharia, S.; Aria, S.; Garcia, O.; Bednarz, C.; Guerrero, B. Utilization of cotton gin waste biochars for agronomic benefits in soils. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery 2024. DOI: 10.1007/s13399-024-05545-x.
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