Location: Forage Seed and Cereal Research Unit
Project Number: 2072-21600-001-017-I
Project Type: Interagency Reimbursable Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2024
End Date: Aug 31, 2026
Objective:
Modern agriculture's open nitrogen (N) cycle, driven by synthetic fertilizer inputs, leads to an abundance of reactive N vulnerable to leaching, volatilization, and incomplete denitrification, resulting in costly and ineffective fertility management. To address this, we propose a fertility management framework encompassing Nitrogen Input Management (NIM) and Nitrogen Conservation Management (NCM). NIM optimizes nitrogen inputs based on the Four R's principle (Right Rate, Right Time, Right Source, and Right Place), while NCM focuses on retaining reactive N within the system, achieved through catch crops or nitrification-inhibiting crops. Adopting both NIM and NCM approaches may sustain agricultural productivity while mitigating N loss challenges.
Meadowfoam (Limnanthes alba) shows promise as a crop simultaneously achieving NIM and NCM objectives. This common winter crop in the Willamette Valley is well-suited for rotational agriculture, is frequently rotated with grass seed crops due to its adaptability to various soil types and short growing cycle. This project aims to quantify that benefit and determine the microbial and plant mechanisms that underpin these phenomena.
Approach:
We will conduct a comprehensive investigation combining field, greenhouse, and laboratory studies to shed light on meadowfoam’s role in fertility management. Our research will focus on:
• Assessing the microbial community within the meadowfoam rhizosphere to determine the presence of diazotrophs.
• Evaluating meadowfoam’s impact on nitrification rates and NH4+ and NO3- pool sizes.
• Test the practical implications for using meadowfoam to enhance and preserve the bioavailable N pool for succeeding crops.
