Project Number: 6420-12610-003-05
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jun 15, 2005
End Date: May 31, 2010

Objective:
Establish the relationship between improved soil management/agronomic practices, i.e., conservation tillage, poultry litter applications, and cropping systems to carbon sequestration, soil erosion, soil quality indicators, nutrient cycling, and economics of cotton production.

Approach:
Data collection and soil sampling will be imposed on an established set of 48 plots in a replicated field experiment at the Alabama Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Belle Mina, AL. Treatments include three levels of tillage, including no-tillage, two cover crops systems, and commercial fertilizer nitrogen and poultry litter as a nitrogen source. Using these plots, we propose to establish relationships between soil management practices and management-induced increases in carbon sequestration and associated improvements in soil quality such as water infiltration, aggregate stability, bulk density, soil strength, nutrient cycling, pH, electrical conductivity, and biological activity. Improvements in these indicators will be correlated to cotton yields, in order to evaluate their economic impacts as well as environmental impacts.