Biodegradable Mulches for Specialty Crops Produced Under Protective Covers (SCRI)

This SCRI SREP (No. 2009-02484) awarded on 1 Oct 2009 to a team of agricultural, materials, social and textile scientists, is ascertaining whether one experimental spun-bond nonwoven biodegradable mulch (BDM) and two leading commercially-available BDM products (BioBag, BioTelo) are of similar quality to conventional black plastic mulch for high tunnel and open field specialty crop production.  A multi-site field experiment in the coastal climate of western WA, high plains of central TX, and subtropical region of TN is underway, with cellulose and non-mulch treatments as reference controls and tomato as the test crop.  Three experiments on adaptability of six cultivars each of lettuce, strawberry and tomato to high tunnel production in these contrasting environments have also been initiated.  In TN and TX field plantings have been established and in WA plants are ready for transplanting.  Field and laboratory protocols for monitoring crop and soil interactions with the BDMs as well as assessing BDM properties, performance and degradation have been refined by team and advisory committee members.  Also coordinated or under review for synchronous approaches are field plot designs; cultural practices; crop and harvest assessments; environmental monitoring; soil sampling and analysis; BDM sample receipt, storage and analysis; crop budgets; and, a framework for defining clean technologies.  Input from growers in the three regions will be critical to successful adaptation, implementation and long-term feasibility of BDMs. Thus, procedures and criteria for recruitment and selection of potential focus group participants and survey respondents are being developed to understand values, beliefs and attitudes towards BDMs, and the social norms and practices of participating communities.  To date, an experimental BDM manufactured in Saxon, Germany for the project and the other four mulch products have been received at all three sites.  One post-doctoral associate and four graduate students have been hired.  Analytical equipment for the textile laboratory in WA and environmental monitoring instruments and field supplies for WA, TX and TN have been purchased.  Baseline soil samples from TN have been analyzed for bulk density, microbial biomass C, two enzyme potentials related to C and N cycling, and microbial community structure via phospholipid fatty acid profiling (PLFA); baseline data from TX and WA soil samples is commencing.  One internal website has been created for information sharing among team members, and one public website (http://vegetables.wsu.edu/plasticulture.html) has been dedicated for general outreach.  This SCRI team and its advisory committee will meet June 24-25, 2010 in Mount Vernon, WA.