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19 Oct 2021

A nursery system nitrogen balance for production of a containerized woody ornamental plant

Bruno J.L. Pitton, Lorence R. Oki, Jared Sisneroz, and Richard Y. Evans (University of Califronia, Davis)

Crop producers should identify nitrogen (N) inputs and outputs to calculate potential N available for leaching into groundwater to reduce nitrate contamination in intensive agricultural production areas. However, poor understanding of N fate in container plant production may result in inaccurate estimation of potentially leachable N. To improve understanding of container-applied N fate, an experiment was conducted to measure N inputs and outputs from a woody ornamental plant (Lagerstroemia indica ‘Whitt II’) production system fertilized with controlled-release and surface-applied fertilizer.

Read the research article to understand the impact nursery production has on nitrate contamination of groundwater 

4 Oct 2021

Specialty crop retention reservoir performance and design considerations

Mohammed Nayeb Yazdi (Ohio State University), James S. Owen Jr (USDA), Steve W. Lyon (Ohio State University), and Sarah A. White (Clemson University)

Specialty crop production requires large volumes of water for irrigation and faces four interconnected water resource concerns: (1) water availability and security, (2) need for high water quality (3) management of irrigation return flow and operational water quality from production areas, and (4) increasing consumer and regulatory pressure to mitigate non-point source runoff. Retention reservoirs are an effective best management practice for extending water resources and reducing an adverse effect on the environment.

Read the research article to learn about various treatment processes within retention reservoirs in specialty crops. 

Description of research activities

A national team of scientists is working to encourage use of alternative water resources by the nation’s billion-dollar nursery and floriculture industry has been awarded funds for the first year of an $8.7 million, five year US Department of Agriculture – National Institute of Food and Agriculture –Specialty Crop Research Initiative competitive grant.

The team will develop and apply systems-based solutions to assist grower decision making by providing science-based information to increase use of recycled water.  This award from the NIFA’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative is managed by Project Director Sarah White of Clemson University.  She leads a group of 21 scientists from nine U.S. institutions.

Entitled “Clean WateR3 - Reduce, Remediate, Recycle – Enhancing Alternative Water Resources Availability and Use to Increase Profitability in Specialty Crops”, the Clean WateR3 team will assist the grower decision-making process by providing science-based information on nutrient, pathogen, and pesticide fate in recycled water both before and after treatment, average cost and return-on investment of technologies examined, and model-derived, site specific recommendations for water management.  The trans-disciplinary Clean WateR3 team will develop these systems-based solutions by integrating sociological, economic, modeling, and biological data into a user-friendly decision-support system intended to inform and direct our stakeholders’ water management decision-making process.

The Clean WateR3 grant team is working with a stakeholder group of greenhouse and nursery growers throughout the United States.

For example, at the University of Florida graduate student George Grant is collecting data on removal of paclobutrazol, a highly persistent plant growth regulator chemical, from recirculated water using granular activated carbon (GAC) filters. This is being done in both research greenhouses and in a commercial site. The GAC filters can remove more than 90% of chemical residues, and are proving to be a cost-effective treatment method.

 

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