Project Number: 6204-12660-001-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Jul 01, 2004
End Date: Feb 28, 2009

Objective:
Develop ways to improve organic production systems and to provide guidelines and knowledge for conversion of conventional systems to organic systems. Comparisons of soil and plant health and food quality between the two systems will be made. Research protocol will accommodate the expectation that certain problems will arise in the field program that will require more fundamental experiments to facilitate the understnding of the organic system.

Approach:
Improve soil organic matter content, available plant nutrients, soil health and productivity through a variety of cover cropping systems (such as summer cover crops, sorghum and cowpea; and fall cover crops - black oats and hairy vetch). Modify soil environment by different cover crops and assess changes in distribution and activity of microbes in the soil and rhizosphere, and their impact on plant growth and development. Select, propagate, and characterize clones/cultivars that are suited for organic cultivation of olives as a new crop for Texas. Develop management strategies, such as use of particle-based reflectant materials, microbial inoculants, mulches, and irrigation scheduling to reduce abiotic and biotic stress in order to improve yield and quality in fruit and vegetable crops. Develop management systems to convert conventional pecan production to sustainable/organic production.

Project Team

Zibilske, Larry Makus, Donald Bradford, Joe Malik, Nasir

Related National Programs

Soil Resource Management (202)   Integrated Farming Systems (207)