Project Overview
Commodities
- Additional Plants: herbs
Practices
- Pest Management: flame, integrated pest management
- Production Systems: general crop production
Proposal summary:
This project addresses the problem of bringing to market the herb Navajo tea greenthread while contributing to sustainable agriculture for growers on the Colorado Plateau. Western SARE funding will support field trials for organic methods of controlling weeds affecting this perennial herb and share the findings with growers in the region. To find the most efficient organic weed-control method, this project will conduct on-farm trials that compare the effects of carefully timed flame weeding, application of corn gluten as a pre-emergence organic herbicide and mechanical cultivation using a spring-time weeding implement for in-row cultivation of established plants. The goal is to popularize the growth of greenthread, which will add diversity to the products New Mexico offers to national and international markets. The findings will be disseminated through a grower’s blog and a final printed booklet summarizing the project activities and encouraging other farmers to explore greenthread.
Project objectives from proposal:
To conduct field trials to compare the effectiveness of three methods of organic weed control in an established greenthread field, including:
(a) flame weeding
(b) corn gluten meal as pre-emergence organic herbicide
(c) mechanical, in-row cultivation using a spring tine weeding implement