Project Grant 20236701439637

** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** AQUIFER RESOURCES IN THE SOUTHERN HIGH PLAINS ARE DIMINISHING, AND RAINFED AGRICULTURE HAS BECOME A NECESSITY. OUR PROJECT CONCERNS HOW TO IMPROVE ON-THE-GROUND FARMING PRACTICES AND ASSOCIATED PROFITABILITY FOR RAINFED PRODUCTION IN THIS AREA. WE ADDRESS PROBLEMS COMMONLY SEEN IN RAINFED AGRICULTURE ACCORDING TO THREE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES--(1) QUANTIFYING SOIL HEALTH AND CROP YIELD USING THE, MEANING THAT WE FOCUS ON UNDERSTANDING AND IMPROVING PHYSICAL-CHEMICAL-BIOLOGICAL QUALITY OF SOILS AS A RESOURCE; (2) IMPROVING THE FIELD-SCALE UNDERSTANDING OF BIOCHAR MADE FROM COTTON GIN WASTE TO IMPROVE SOIL HEALTH ; AND (3) USING LARGE DATASETS TO EXPLAIN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RAIN-FED PRACTICES AND THEIR EFFECTS.THE ACTIVITIES WE WILL UNDERTAKE CONCERN RESEARCH CROP PLOTS THAT COMPARE ROTATION SCHEMES TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A SOIL HEALTH FOCUS AND STORING RAINFALL--CONVENTIONALLY TILLED COTTON, WHEAT-COTTON-FALLOW, AND RYE-SUMMER BLEND-COTTON. ADDITIONALLY, SOME PLOTS WILL HAVE VARYING APPLICATION OF COTTON GIN WASTE BIOCHAR. WE WILL MONITOR THESE PLOTS OVER THREE YEARS USING MULTISPECTRAL IMAGING AND SEMIANNUAL SOIL CORES TO PROVIDE MANY USEFUL CROP AND SOIL PROPERTIES THE EXPLAIN WHY DIFFERENT PRACTICES ARE OR ARE NOT EFFECTIVE IN RAINFED CROPPING. FINALLY, WE WILL USE MACHINE-LEARNING METHODS TO EXPLAIN AND PREDICT THE EFFECTS OF RAINFED CROP MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES SPECIFICALLY IN THE AREAS OF YIELD PREDICTION, WEED DETECTION, AND DISEASE DETECTION USING DRONE IMAGERY. THE ULTIMATE AIM IS TO PROVIDE A DECISION-MAKING FRAMEWORK FOR PRODUCERS TO APPLY A RANGE OF RAINFED LINKED SOIL HEALTH PRACTICES SUITED TO THEIR GOALS.