HARNESSING LONG-TERM FIELD EXPERIMENTS IN ALABAMA TO UNRAVEL MICROBIOMES GOVERNING SOIL AND PLANT HEALTH

Thelong-term goal of this project is to reduce production inputs while increasing crop productivityby better managing soil microbiomes.We seek to better understand the influence of microbiomes on soil and plant health. Taking advantage of existing long-term (>100 years) field experiments in Alabama, our interdisciplinary team of soil scientists and plant pathologists will address the following specificobjectives:1) Determine the responses of soil microbiomes to crop rotation, cover cropping and N source in a conservation system; and2) Assess the suppressive nature of soil against soil-borne pathogens to improve plant health.