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.
Status | Active |
---|---|
Effective start/end date | 5/1/20 → 4/30/25 |
Funding
- National Institute of Food and Agriculture: $500,000.00
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