Project Number: 3625-11120-003-07
Project Type: Nonfunded Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 30, 2005
End Date: Jun 30, 2010

Objective:
The objective of this cooperative research project is to identify all changes in the quantity and biochemical nature of soil organic matter that occur under continuous intensive rice cropping in the Mekong Delta and to establish any effects of these changes on rice grain yield and on the cycling of soil nitrogen into plant-available forms.

Approach:
Soil will be sampled from experimental plots in farmers¿ fields in the Mekong Delta. Soils will be extracted for specific humic fractions, and these will be analyzed for their biochemical nature. The results will be compared to crop uptake of nitrogen and grain yield in order to establish any relationships. Crop management options for improving the chemical nature of soil organic matter and nitrogen availability will be evaluated in a pot study. Soil from the pots will be analyzed similarly as for the field study.