Tools for evaluating soil health products used in Yuma agriculture

Summary

Proper soil health is vital for productive agriculture. When soil health is ignored we quickly see salt build up, carbon depletion, mycorrhizal imbalances, erosion, and pH imbalances, which in turn reduces yield and quality of agricultural crops. There are many good cultural practices that have been developed to increase soil health, and products have been developed by industry to benefit the soil. However, the definition of soil health improvement is not universally agreed upon and is difficult to quantify. There is a desire in the grower community for the neutral third party testing of soil health amendments. Many of the soil health products available to purchase are not thoroughly tested on different crops grown in Yuma, using proper research trials, before being sold to growers. It is the purpose of this study to evaluate commercially available soil health products and their effects on Yuma agriculture. Funding will be used to purchase tools and supplies to conduct ongoing and future experiments designed to validate soil health product label claims and determine how they best fit into Yuma agricultural practices. All results from the research trials will be disseminated to Yuma growers, PCAs, and CCAs through extension bulletins and newsletters.

Affiliation
University of Arizona Yuma County Cooperative Extension
Funding Year
2020
Funding Quarter of Year
Quarter 1
Amount Funded
YCEDA: $3,512.57