Project Number: 3640-12000-008-01
Project Type: Reimbursable

Start Date: Apr 01, 2011
End Date: Mar 31, 2014

Objective:
Our objective in this project is to advance understanding of physical processes and plant-soil microbial interactions that are the basis of functional differences between active-turnover and soil-building zones biology, and to examine the implications of these processes for resilience and adaptation to variable climates in cereal production systems.

Approach:
We hypothesize that, relative to uniform management systems, precision zonal management systems change both physical and microbiological processes so as to substantially increase N- and water-use efficiency, improve soil C storage, and maintain high yield potential under more variable climate conditions. Our long-term goal is to understand the functional agroecology of precision zonal management systems that build upon current precision farming approaches (e.g. GPS guidance, variable rate fertilizer/agrochemical applications) to create highly resilient and sustainable field crop production systems.