Project Grant 20246702243063

** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THE COMPLEXITY OF PROBLEMS FACING THE AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS DEMONSTRATES THE NEED FOR ENGINEERED MATERIALS THAT SIMULTANEOUSLY ADDRESS SEVERAL OF THE SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES IN AGRICULTURE. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH PROGRAM AIMS TO CREATE AND STUDY ENGINEERED COMPOSITE MATERIALS - BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC MULCH CONTAINING MAJOR NUTRIENTS - WITH THE POTENTIAL TO REDUCE SOIL DEGRADATION CAUSED BY PLASTIC POLLUTION. IN THIS WORK, WE WILL SYNTHESIZE UREA CO-CRYSTAL FERTILIZERS AT A KG SCALE AND COMBINE THEM WITH SEVERAL PLASTIC POLYMERS TO EXTRUDE MULCH FILMS THAT CAN BE EFFICIENTLY DEGRADED BY THE SOIL MICROBIOME. NEXT, WE WILL ASSESS THE COMPOSITE MULCH EFFECTS ON MICROBIAL COMMUNITY HEALTH, COMPOSITE MULCH DEGRADATION AS WELL AS NUTRIENT RELEASE PROPERTIES. FINALLY, WE WILL APPLY SELECTED COMPOSITE BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC MULCH IN PILOT FIELD EXPERIMENTS CULTIVATING HIGH-VALUE CROPS, SUCH AS TOMATOES WHILE INVESTIGATING SOIL FEATURES AND HEALTH, AS WELL AS CROP PHYSIOLOGY, YIELD AND QUALITY. IN THIS MANNER, WE WILL OBTAIN OPTIMIZED BIODEGRADABLE NUTRIENT-CONTAINING PLASTIC MULCH FORMULATIONS THAT WILL RESULT IN ENHANCED CROP YIELDS COMBINED WITH ENHANCED SOIL HEALTH.