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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Jonesboro, Arkansas » Delta Water Management Research » Research » Research Project #445695

Research Project: Quantifying Agronomic and Sustainability Benefits of Silicate Rock Dust Applications to Drill-Seeded Rice

Location: Delta Water Management Research

Project Number: 6024-13000-004-074-T
Project Type: Trust Fund Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Nov 1, 2023
End Date: Nov 30, 2026

Objective:
1. To quantify seasonal N2O, CO2, and CH4 emissions for systems amended with silicate rock to those of a system receiving no silica rock amendment (control). 2. To quantify dissolved organic C concentrations in soil pore water of a rice-soil system receiving silicate rock amendments to those of the control. 3. To quantify the concentrations of B, Mn, and inorganic As in rice grain produced by silicate rock amended rice-soil systems to those of the control. 4. To quantify rice grain yield produced by silicate rock amended rice-soil systems to those of the control.

Approach:
We propose that two approaches be used to investigate the behavior of silicate rock amendments in flooded rice culture: (1) Rice agronomics field study. An in situ study featuring rice grown in containers installed in a rice field to study the impact of the silicate rock amendment on rice agronomics and methane production, and (2) Batch soil slurry study. A laboratory soil incubation study (no rice present) to investigate the impact of the silicate rock amendment on soil chemistry and soil microbiology (as measured by CH4 and CO2 production).