A new project in the US wants to turn around the organic cotton scenario by ramping up production in the country through identification of challenges to and opportunities for cotton growers.
- The project led by Texas A&M AgriLife Research researchers seeks to help US organic cotton producers determine how to improve yields, productivity and sustainability in their existing fields and to transition more acreage into organic production.
- The study, Fostering Sustainable Organic Cotton Production in the US Through Research and Outreach on Organic Regenerative Practices, is funded by a $3.5 million US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant.
- The researchers received funding for a smaller organic cotton project three years ago, and it was this small transitioning project that allowed them to better understand this production system and its challenges. The new grant is a large-scale expansion of that research.
The Researchers: The project team includes multiple researchers from Texas A&M AgriLife, Texas Tech University, New Mexico State University, The Soil Health Institute, AgriCenter International, Sam Houston State University, Prairie View A&M University and Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
- The team will collaborate with producer organisations, the textiles industry and non-profit organisations, including The Organic Center.
The Context: Texas is the leader in US organic cotton production, followed by New Mexico. But long-term practices that impact changes to soil health, like microbial dynamics, are unclear to farmers who might adopt organic production.
- The organic fields do not use chemicals for weed control, they rely on tilling. Researchers want to see how much destruction this continuous tilling is causing to the overall soil health.
- The researchers will first work with the existing organic cotton producers in Texas, New Mexico and a few in the Mississippi Delta, and study their existing operations, without imposing any change in practice. They want to understand what their production challenges are, how they are managing them, what works and what doesn’t, and how their practices are impacting the soil and output long-term.
- As they increase this understanding, they will identify management practices producers need help with and determine how to improve those practices.
Project goals and team: This multi-state, multi-institutional team represents the key US organic cotton academic community and is represented by diverse expertise encompassing biophysical and socio-economic sciences.
- A key member is Muthukumar Bagavathiannan, Billie Turner Professor of Production Agronomy in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Soil and Crop Sciences.
- Nithya Rajan, AgriLife Research crop physiologist/agroecologist, will be assessing soil carbon dynamics and greenhouse gas emissions in this project.
- Other scientists/faculty in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences on this grant include Jake Mowrer, state soil specialist, and Nithya Subramanian, molecular weed scientist, both in Bryan-College Station; Emi Kimura, agronomist, Vernon; and Bob Whitney, organic programme specialist, Stephenville.
- Small-plot experiments will be conducted in certified or transitioning organic fields in Texas, New Mexico and Tennessee over a four-year period to evaluate specific regenerative management practices. The experiments in Tennessee are expected to assist with expanding organic cotton research and outreach activities to the Mississippi Delta.
- A stakeholder advisory panel has been formed to help guide the project activities and deliverables.
The goals: The multi-faceted project goals include:
- Attaining a deeper understanding of adoption constraints and opportunities associated with organic cotton production in the US Cotton Belt.
- Developing locally suitable regenerative practices to advance agronomic, ecosystem and economic benefits of production.
- Evaluating weed suppressive potential of advance-breeding or already-developed cotton lines for utilisation in organic production.
- Expanding adoption of organic production practices through collaborative extension and demonstration activities.
- Providing educational opportunities to train the next generation of research and extension scientists and organic practitioners.
