Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Diversified fruit and vegetable growers are a hallmark of the organic agriculture industry and movement. Diversification opens market opportunities, hedges risks, conserves biodiversity, and grows healthy communities and local economies. At the same time, diversified organic growers must master the production of many specialty crops with a limited set of tools to combat pests, diseases, weeds, and a changing climate. Some of these tools, like OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute)-listed pesticides perform sub-optimally and fail to reduce damage from pests and diseases. Mounting evidence suggests mesotunnel protection systems limit pests, diseases, and some extreme weather conditions. However, while mesotunnels reduce the use of OMRI-listed pesticides, consumer concerns over plastic use in agriculture may present new social challenges to the adoption of these plastic-based systems. The overall goal of this four-year project is to expand the organic tool kit to overcome biotic and abiotic challenges to specialty crops in the Southeast, Midwest, and Northeast. Field experiments and on-farm trials with brassica (greens, broccoli), cucurbit (melons and squash), and solanaceous crops (eggplant) will optimize the use of mesotunnel protection systems to control biotic and abiotic stressors (Objective 1). Innovative strategies to incorporate mesotunnels into diversified organic fruit and vegetable rotations will aim to maximize the benefits to growers in each region. Data generated from experiments will be used to determine which mesotunnel-crop combinations maximize grower profits (Objective 2). To understand marketing, policy, and adoption barriers, we will assess grower and consumer acceptability of mesotunnels through surveys, interviews, and consumer preference experiments (Objective 3). Growers and industry stakeholders will provide continuous input to guide the project through an Advisory Panel, surveys, listening sessions, and on-farm trials. Finally, a coordinated regional and national outreach program will reach thousands of growers and millions of consumers to highlight the most promising protection systems (Objective 4). Together, these objectives address five OREI goals and will help the organic specialty crop industry to grow resilient to changing climates and consumer demands to insure the sustainability of the organic industry.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
70%
Developmental
30%
Goals / Objectives
GoalsThe proposed work will aim to increase the sustainability of the organic specialty crop industry in the Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast regions. Specifically, this project will aim toexpand the organic tool kit to overcome production challenges including pests, diseases, weeds, and social acceptability, while also building resilience to climate change related stressors.The long-term goalsof the proposed project are to:(1) Develop strategies for integrating protection systems into diversified organic specialty crop operations to prevent biotic and abiotic stressors.(2) Developprotection systems to prevent biotic and abiotic stressors that maximize cost-effectiveness.(3) Understand the social acceptance of plastic-based protection systems to guide market, policy, and adoption strategies for the organic specialty crop industry.(4) Showcase the success of these protection systems through outreach to growers and consumers to increase the adoption and social acceptance of these practices.ObjectivesFocusing on organic cucurbit (squash and melons), brassica (kale, greens, broccoli), and solanaceous (eggplant) crops, we will assess mesotunnels (plastic-based fine-mesh protection systems) as they relate to the following objectives:1. Optimize the use of mesotunnels to protect organic specialty crops from biotic and abiotic stressors.2. Assess the economic efficiency of mesotunnels systems for organic specialty crops.3. Evaluate grower perceptions of and barriers to mesotunnel systems relative to other organic protection systems and assess consumer preferences for vegetables produced with mesotunnels versus organic pesticides.4. Outreach: Share the advances in new production systems with organic growers, extension professionals, and other stakeholders through a diverse set of outreach initiatives.
Project Methods
Activity 1.1. Mesotunnel system efficacy for control of pest, disease, and weather extremes. During Years 1-3, we will conduct field trials on certified organic land at the University of Kentucky (UK) Cornell University AgriTech (CUA) and Iowa State University(ISU). To determine the agronomic efficiency of mesotunnel systems for diversified specialty crop growers, each regional team will assess the impact of mesotunnel systems on spring (brassicas), summer (eggplant or muskmelon), and fall crops (brassicas) produced in each region. Three treatments will be deployed with four replicates per treatment per crop-season:(1) Mesotunnel system(2) OMRI-listed pesticide system (uncovered)(3) Control treatment (uncovered, untreated)Crop pests and diseases will be monitored weekly by visually observing all plant material in quadrats (3 x 3 ft) every 10 feet in the center bed of each plot. Sticky cards will be deployed 1-week after planting for a 7-day period and 1-week before harvest (for 7-days) to monitor insect pest abundance.Abiotic stressors. We will place temperature, humidity, and dew point loggers within each plot and record climate variables continually for the duration of the experiment (Watchdog). Micro-weather stations (Davis) will collect rainfall, solar radiance, and wind speed estimates. Any extreme weather event (e.g., heavy rain episodes, drought, windstorms, hail) during experiments will be noted to determine if mesotunnels improved productivity in the face of a climate challenge.Yield and produce quality. Total, non-marketable, and marketable yield will be recorded from quadrats (3 x 3 ft) of the center bed every 10 feet in the center bed of each plot. Produce will be weighed and graded according to current USDA commercial standards to determine marketable yields and unmarketable yields related to biotic and abiotic related losses.Activity 1.2. Weed management under mesotunels. Weed management treatments will be integrated into experiments to optimize weed control under mesotunnel systems. For each spring, summer, and fall crop studied, we will use plastic mulch on raised plastic beds and we will implement three weed management strategies (n=4 per treatment) for control of weeds within the inter-bed spaces (furrows):(1) Mesotunnel system + Living mulch(2) Mesotunnel system + Landscape fabric(3) Mesotunnel system + BaregroundLiving mulches will consist of teff in Iowa and Kentucky, while New York will utilize an annual rye/clover mixture.Weed and cover crop density will be measured in two randomly placed quadrats (1 x 1 ft) within the inter-bed space at harvest. All plant biomass will be cut at ground height, sorted, and dried to measure the dry biomass of weeds (broadleaf and grass) and cover crops.Data analysis for Activities 1.1-1.2. For each crop species, an analysis of variance for blocked designs will determine how treatments impacted pests, pathogens, abiotic stressors, weeds, or yield. Additionally, multivariate general linear mixed models will be used to determine relationships between biotic and abiotic stressors and marketable yield.Activity 1.3. Building mesotunnel rotational systems. The timing of each experiment in the spring, summer, and fall will allow for the re-utilization of mesotunnel materials for two to three times per year. Utilizing the marketable yield data from each crop experiment, and the selling price of each crop we will standardize yields across the different crop species by calculating revenue. We will use general linear mixed models to assess which crops generate the most revenue from utilizing mesotunnel systems and how increasing the number of uses per year will increase the revenue generated.Activity 2.1. Cost-effectiveness of mesotunnels. Using the experimental trials performed in Activity 1.1, we will perform a partial budget analysis and develop enterprise budgets to compare costs across labor, supplies, pest/disease control application, fuel, and machinery depreciation and compare these costs to economic efficiencies including marketable yield, profit, average cost ratio, and relative cost-efficiency ratio.Activity 2.2. Cost-effectiveness of weed management strategies. Using the weed management treatments from Activity 1.2, we will compare the profitability and cost effectiveness of weed management strategies under mesotunnel systems. Following economic approaches described in Activity 2.1, we will compare the economic efficiencies of the different weed management strategies.Activity 2.3. Cost-effectiveness of mesotunnel rotational systems. Using the combined results of all experiments in Activity 1.3, we will compare economic efficiency of these diversified systems as described above in Activity 2.1.Activity 3.1. Understanding grower's perceptions of barriers and incentives for adopting mesotunnel systems. In Year 1, we will develop a baseline survey instrument to measure growers' local knowledge of systems, perceptions of pests, disease, and weather risks, and current decision support strategies to manage these risks. Growers that will receive outreach material or participate in on-farm trials will be selected for this survey. In Year 4, an end-of-project assessment will document changes in grower knowledge and adoption behavior as well as to determine what drove these changes.Activity 3.2. Nation-wide survey of perceptions of organic pest, pathogen, weed and climate protection practices. A national level survey will be developed to assess the perceptions of organic growers related to the effectiveness of: (i) OMRI-listed insecticides and fungicides, (ii) row covers and mesotunnel systems, and (iii) other alternatives. We will also collect information on the strategies that growers use to mitigate extreme weather events. Questions will include growers that have used technologies such as mesotunnels or row covers, growers that have heard of these technologies but have not used them, and growers that have never heard of these technologies. The universe of organic growers will be amassed through extension contact lists as well as through Organic-, Fruit-, and Vegetable-Growers Associations.Data Analysis. We will use a variety of quantitative methods to analyze the survey data and assess the future likelihood of adopting mesotunnels and other associated production technologies, including Technology Acceptance, Diffusion of Innovation Theory, factor analysis and Structural Equation Modeling, and Discrete Choice Models.Activity 3.3. Framed laboratory experiment of consumers' acceptability of and preferences for organic vegetables produced in mesotunnels and other plasticulture production systems. In Years 2 and 3, we propose to use framed laboratory experiments to elicit consumers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for organic and local vegetables produced using mesotunnel production systems. We will employ Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) auctions that have been used extensively to elicit maximum truthful consumer WTP for food attributes. University students and general public consumers will be recruited through the Cornell University Experimental Economics Research Laboratory. They will be presented with four organic vegetable varieties to perform sensory evaluation of muskmelon (1) produced in mesotunnel systems from NY trials in obj.1, (2) locally produced without row covers, (3) non-locally produced in IA mesotunnel trials, (4) and non-locally produced without row covers. Each option will be accompanied by pictures of production scenes, and how plastics are used in these production systems. Following the affective test method, the consumer participants will observe the appearance, taste the four muskmelon varieties, and then be asked to place sealed bids for a pound of each variety in the auction. Analysis will reveal consumer's willingness to pay for local-ness of organic vegetables and isolate the potential impacts of the use of mesotunnels in consumer valuation.