A new $750,000 grant will help a team of researchers at Michigan State University study changes in soil health from intensive rainfall and/or droughts.
The grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture is intended to help researchers examine the effects of summer weather patterns of extreme droughts and intense rainfalls on soils in Midwest corn, soybean and wheat production systems.
"There is a lot of research on climate change and agriculture, but there are few reliable quantitative assessments of the implications of drought or excess moisture on soil health," said Alexandra Kravchenko, a professor at MSU's Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences who is leading the project.
"This is due in part to the significant expense of field-scale precipitation simulations, as well as the variety of management practices used by farmers," Kravchenko said. "To generate a more comprehensive understanding of the issue, we’re looking at the problem under different management techniques and rainfall scenarios.
Source: wwmt.com
Photo Credit: gettyimages-dmytro-diedov
Categories: Michigan, Crops