ENHANCING CROP PRODUCTIVITY AND REDUCING NITROUS OXIDE EMISSIONS IN CORN AND SOYBEAN CROPPING SYSTEMS

The overall goal of this project is to investigate six different climate-smart agriculture(CSA) practices (including different nitrogen fertilizations, use of nitrification inhibitor, no-tillage, chick litter, and biochar) on the yields of corn and soybean and the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), particularly N2O, and to provide farmers the best CSA practices to improve their incomes. The specific objectives are: 1) to quantify crop productivity and soil N2O emissions in corn and soybean cropping systems under six CSA practices; 2) to conduct meta-analysis of the impacts of CSA practices on soil N2O emission in corn and soybean cropping systems; 3) to simulate crop productivity and soil N2O emissions in the southeastern US using the DLEM-Ag and DNDC models; and 4) to build a decision support system and conduct economic impact analysis for farmers to increase resource use efficiencies and their incomes. The project will build and strengthen research and extension capacities and train minority graduate and undergraduate students in Agro-ecology, Global Climate Change, and Sustainable Agriculture. The findings of this project will be presented in national and international conferences, published in peer-review journals, and disseminated to farmers through workshops.