The Hemp Effect: What Impact Will Incorporating Hemp into Traditional Crop Rotations Have on the Provisioning of Agroecosystem Services?

Grants and Contracts Details

Description

As acreage devoted to industrial hemp increases across the US, it is incumbent upon agricultural scientists to understand the impact that incorporation of hemp into management systems will have on rotational crop yield and agroecosystem services such as soil health and function. Further, there is a dramatic paucity of knowledge in general on industrial hemp and its agronomic value. The proposed work will establish a necessary framework for studying industrial hemp, generate knowledge on the sustainability of industrial hemp as a rotation crop, train scientists in hemp agronomy and agroecosystem services, and strengthen collaborative work between the two landgrant institutions in the state of Kentucky. This project will incorporate both hemp for fiber and hemp for grain into conventional crop rotations (corn-wheat-soybean) at two established Kentucky research farm sites. The impact of hemp on grain crop yield, as well as on hemp fiber biomass will be assessed to determine profitability, and identify changes to provisioning services compared to a conventional rotation. Agroecosystem services related to sustainability, and soil health and function will be measured, including soil physical, chemical, and biological parameters. Weed pressure and diversity will be measured to determine how the lack of allowable pesticide use on hemp impacts weeds in hemp and subsequent crops. This proposal is relevant to the NIFA AFRI A1102 (Foundational Knowledge of Agricultural Production Systems) program priorities by investigating how diversifying crop rotations affects crop performance, soil health, and system resilience.
StatusActive
Effective start/end date5/1/204/30/25

Funding

  • National Institute of Food and Agriculture: $500,000.00

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