SOIL HEALTH IS ONE OF THE MOST CRITICAL FOUNDATIONS OF MODERN AGRICULTURE. THIS PROJECT WILL SEEK TO UNDERSTAND HOW CROP ROTATION, A PRACTISE DATING BACK TO HISTORIC TIMES, IMPACTS THE PERFORMANCE OF CROPS GROWN THE NEXT SEASON. BY DETERMINING WHICH SOIL MICROBES AND NUTRIENTS SHIFT UNDER CROP ROTATION AND THEN IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OF THE NEXT SEASON'S WHEAT CROP, WE CAN BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW TO MANAGE SOIL HEALTH. IN PARTICULAR, THIS PROJECT WILL LOOK AT HOW THE PLANT GENOTYPE OF THE ROTATIONAL CROP INFLUENCES THE CROP ROTATIONAL VALUE. THIS WILL ALLOW BREEDERS TO TARGET SOIL HEALTH AS A TRAIT OF INTEREST AND PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS.

Washington State University, Pullman WA

Investigators