Season 1, Episode 11

Is perennial ground cover the future of agriculture?

Since the dawn of the agricultural revolution, humans have been working to increase productivity from the soil.  Intensive farming practices in the USA, which include mechanized tillage and fertilizer applications, have resulted in a hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico due to nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from fields.  More information about this can be found at NOAA’s website.

A group of researchers is working to change this situation.  Dr. Raj Raman from Iowa State University is leading a team that is working to improve the sustainability of cereal production through the use of perennial ground cover (PGC).  More about RegenPGC can be found at their website.

Here are two of their journal papers that might be of particular interest to our listeners:
Perennial groundcovers: an emerging technology for soil conservation and the sustainable intensification of agriculture. Emerging Topics in Life Sciences, 5, 337-347. 10.1042/ETLS20200318
Regenerating agricultural landscapes with perennial groundcover for intensive crop production. Agronomy, 9, 458. org/10.3390/agronomy9080458

In this episode we talk about PGC, education, and a variety of other topics.  The agricultural revolution continues to evolve.

Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay.