Location: Agricultural Systems Research
Project Number: 3032-13210-007-002-N
Project Type: Non-Funded Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Mar 1, 2016
End Date: Feb 28, 2020
Objective:
Evaluation of changes in soil microbial communities, and incidence and severity of Rhizoctonia root rot of sugar beet and Fusarium head blight of barley as influenced by tillage and crop rotations in a sandy soil under overhead irrigation.
Approach:
: A long term field experiment will be conducted in a sandy soil in Nesson Valley, ND, to evaluate the effects of two and four year crop rotations, including sugar beet, barley, corn, and soybean, under conventional tillage and no tillage to evaluate the yield, crop quality, soil nutrient levels, nutrient uptake by the crop, and changes in soil health. This cooperation with the NDSU Plant Pathologist located at the Williston Research Extension Center provides an opportunity to evaluate the incidence and severity of plant diseases as influenced by crop rotation and tillage practices. Molecular techniques will be used to evaluate the microbial community changes over the long term and identification of disease causal organisms to further evaluate the effects of the above management practices on the diseases. The information gained from this multidisciplinary cooperation will assist in evaluation of complex interactions between crop management practices, beneficial soil microbial communities, as well as disease causal organisms. This study will ultimately provide the benefit of improved crop management to minimize crop diseases.
