Project Overview
Annual Reports
Commodities
- Vegetables: beans, cucurbits, sweet corn
Practices
- Crop Production: conservation tillage
- Education and Training: on-farm/ranch research, participatory research, workshop
- Pest Management: cultural control, integrated pest management, mulches - killed, weed ecology
- Production Systems: agroecosystems
- Soil Management: green manures, soil quality/health
Proposal abstract:
The central objectives of our proposed work are 1) to evaluate the interactive effects of strip-tillage, cover crops, and weed management intensity within vegetable cropping systems on soil health, pest population dynamics, and crop quality and yield; and 2) to work with growers and extension educators to disseminate useful information and identify and address constraints to adoption of reduced tillage production systems. Approach: A long-term field experiment will evaluate the effects of tillage (strip tillage vs conventional tillage) cover crops (none, rye or rye-vetch) and weed management intensity (low vs high) in two full cycles of a three year sweet corn—snap bean—winter squash rotation. Tillage and cover crop treatments will be repeated in the same location each year throughout the three crop sequence. NC-SARE funding would allow continuation of this trial (initiated in 2009 through various short-term grants) through two full cycles of the rotation in order to assess 6-year cumulative effects. The effects of these treatments will be assessed on the following responses: weed community density and composition; soil health indicators (e.g. aggregate stability and microbial extracellular enzymes); predaceous and herbivorous insects; crop disease; and crop quality and yield. Complementary on-farm trials will be initiated at multiple sites to evaluate complementary cultural practices including weed and cover crop management to optimize strip-tillage. Outputs from our work will include field days, newsletter and journal articles, and presentations at grower meetings and conferences. Short-term outcomes will include increased understanding among vegetable growers of the potential benefits of reduced tillage; identification of optimal complementary weed and cover crop management practices for reduced tillage production. Anticipated intermediate outcomes include adoption of strip-tillage systems; reduced energy-use; reduced input costs; increased profitability; and reductions in adverse environmental impacts including agrichemical run-off and soil degradation. Strip-tillage has great potential to meet these sustainability goals, but research is needed to understand and address constraints to adoption, to identify long-term effects of management, and to optimize complementary cultural practices specific to vegetable growers in the North Central region.
Project objectives from proposal:
The central objectives of our proposed work are 1) to evaluate the interactive effects of strip-tillage, cover crops, and weed management intensity within vegetable cropping systems on soil health, pest population dynamics, and crop quality and yield; and 2) to work with growers and extension educators to disseminate useful information and identify and address constraints to adoption of reduced tillage production systems. Outputs from our work will include field days, newsletter and journal articles, and presentations at grower meetings and conferences. Short-term outcomes will include increased understanding among vegetable growers of the potential benefits of reduced tillage; identification of optimal complementary weed and cover crop management practices for reduced tillage production. Anticipated intermediate outcomes include adoption of strip-tillage systems; reduced energy-use; reduced input costs; increased profitability; and reductions in adverse environmental impacts including agrichemical run-off and soil degradation.