Location: Water Management and Systems Research
Project Number: 3012-13210-001-014-N
Project Type: Non-Funded Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2023
End Date: Aug 31, 2027
Objective:
The Cooperator and USDA-ARS scientists will work closely together to conduct collaborative research to better understand crop and soil processes. We will collect preliminary data to support future grant proposals as well as the new joint EU-US initiative, the Cooperation Platform on Agriculture (CPA), which aims to reinforce dialogue and enhance collaboration on agricultural issues.
Approach:
We plan to test plant responses to nitrogen (N) and water availability and the potential interactions of N and water to determine 1) how plant water productivity shifts with different levels of N availability and develop hypotheses of the plant mechanisms that could underpin this potential interaction, 2) N processes in soil contributing to pools of plant available N and potential interactions between N and water, and 3) how the microbial community might shift and affect N availability. Measurements may include yield response, soil enzyme activity, microbial community shifts, and remote sensed plant stress will be measured and used to guide further research. Results will be used to develop management best practices and future tools for guiding N and water use in semi-arid agronomic systems and these will be tested in future research.
