Barriers and bridges to the adoption of biodegradable plastic mulches for US specialty crop production

AbstractCommercial farmers have been using polyethylene plastic mulch since the 1950s. Despite the affordability and effectiveness of polyethylene mulch, the disposal process is financially and environmentally costly. Biodegradable plastic mulches, an ecologically sustainable alternative to polyethylene mulch films, were introduced in the 1980s. Biodegradable plastic mulches can be tilled into the soil or composted at the end of the season, reducing the labor and environmental costs associated with plastic removal and disposal. However, research results are mixed as to the effectiveness, degradability and ease-of-use of biodegradable plastic mulches. In 2008–2012, researchers, funded by a USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative grant, conducted surveys and focus groups in three different agricultural regions of the USA to better understand the barriers and bridges to the adoption of biodegradable plastic mulches for specialty crop production systems. Data on the experiences and views of specialty crop growers, agricultural extension agents, agricultural input suppliers, mulch manufacturers and other stakeholders showed that the major adoption barriers were insufficient knowledge, high cost and unpredictable breakdown. The major bridges to adoption were reduced waste, environmental benefits and interest in further learning. These findings are discussed with reference to the classic innovation diffusion model, specifically work on the innovation–decision process and the attributes of innovations. The study results can be used to guide the activities of those involved in the design, development and promotion of biodegradable plastic mulches for US specialty crop production systems.

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Biodegradable Plastic Mulch Films for Sustainable Specialty Crop Production

Polymers for Agri-Food Applications ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-19416-1_11 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 183-213 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Douglas G. Hayes ◽

Marife B. Anunciado ◽

Jennifer M. DeBruyn ◽

Sreejata Bandopadhyay ◽

Sean Schaeffer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Crop Production ◽

Biodegradable Plastic ◽

Plastic Mulch ◽

Specialty Crop ◽

Mulch Films

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Soil-Biodegradable Plastic Mulches Undergo Minimal in-Soil Degradation in a Perennial Raspberry System after 18 Months

Horticulturae ◽

10.3390/horticulturae6030047 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 47

Author(s):

Huan Zhang ◽

Markus Flury ◽

Carol Miles ◽

Hang Liu ◽

Lisa DeVetter

Keyword(s):

Production System ◽

Crop Production ◽

Production Systems ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Biodegradable Plastic ◽

Perennial Crop ◽

Soil Burial Test ◽

Soil Burial ◽

Soil Exposure

Soil-biodegradable plastic mulches (BDMs) are made from biodegradable materials that can be bio-based, synthetic, or a blend of these two types of polymers, which are designed to degrade in soil through microbial activities. The purpose of BDMs is to reduce agricultural plastic waste by replacing polyethylene (PE) mulch, which is not biodegradable. Most studies have evaluated the breakdown of BDMs within annual production systems, but knowledge of BDM breakdown in perennial systems is limited. The objective of this study was to evaluate the deterioration and degradation of BDMs in a commercial red raspberry (Rubus ideaus L.) production system. Deterioration was low (≤11% percent soil exposure; PSE) for all mulches until October 2017 (five months after transplanting, MAT). By March 2018 (10 MAT), deterioration reached 91% for BDMs but remained low for PE mulch (4%). Mechanical strength also was lower for BDMs than PE mulch. In a soil burial test in the raspberry field, 91% of the BDM area remained after 18 months. In-soil BDM degradation was minimal, although the PSE was high. Since mulch is only applied once in a perennial crop production system, and the lifespan of the planting may be three or more years, it is worth exploring the long-term degradation of BDMs in perennial cropping systems across diverse environments.

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Bioeconomic Models of Crop Production Systems: Design, Development, and Use

Review of Agricultural Economics ◽

10.2307/1349457 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 389 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Robert P. King ◽

Donald W. Lybecker ◽

Anita Regmi ◽

Scott M. Swinton

Keyword(s):

Crop Production ◽

Production Systems ◽

Systems Design ◽

Design Development ◽

Bioeconomic Models

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Incorporating Water Harvesting into Plasticulture Production of Muskmelon

HortTechnology ◽

10.21273/horttech.9.1.78 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 78-85 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Frank J. Dainello ◽

Larry Stein ◽

Guy Fipps ◽

Kenneth White

Keyword(s):

Crop Production ◽

Large Scale ◽

Production Systems ◽

Water Harvesting ◽

Vegetable Crops ◽

Plastic Mulch ◽

Dry Land ◽

Yield Increase ◽

Harvesting Technique ◽

Marketable Fruit

Competition for limited water supplies is increasing world wide. Especially hard hit are the irrigated crop production regions, such as the Lower Rio Grande Valley and the Winter Garden areas of south Texas. To develop production techniques for reducing supplemental water needs of vegetable crops, an ancient water harvesting technique called rainfall capture was adapted to contemporary, large scale irrigated muskmelon (Cucumis melo var. reticulatus L.) production systems. The rainfall capture system developed consisted of plastic mulched miniature water catchments located on raised seed beds. This system was compared with conventional dry land and irrigated melon production. Rainfall capture resulted in 108% average yield increase over the conventional dry land technique. When compared with conventional furrow irrigation, rainfall capture increased marketable muskmelon yield as much as 5355 lb/acre (6000 kg·ha-1). As anticipated,the drip irrigation/plastic mulch system exceeded rainfall capture in total and marketable fruit yield. The results of this study suggest that rainfall capture can reduce total supplemental water use in muskmelon production. The major benefit of the rainfall capture system is believed to be in its ability to eliminate or decrease irrigation water needed to fill the soil profile before planting.

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Potentially mineralisable nitrogen: relationship to crop production and spatial mapping using infrared reflectance spectroscopy

Soil Research ◽

10.1071/sr08096 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 47 (7) ◽

pp. 737 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

D. V. Murphy ◽

M. Osman ◽

C. A. Russell ◽

S. Darmawanto ◽

F. C. Hoyle

Keyword(s):

Grain Yield ◽

Crop Production ◽

Soil Analysis ◽

Sampling Strategy ◽

Ease Of Use ◽

Environmental Benefits ◽

Soil N ◽

Wheat Grain ◽

Inorganic N ◽

N Supply

Accurate and rapid prediction of the spatial structure of soil nitrogen (N) supply would have both economic and environmental benefits with respect to improved inorganic N fertiliser management. Yet traditional biochemical indices of soil N supply have not been widely incorporated into fertiliser decision support systems or environmental risk monitoring programs. Here we illustrate that in a low-input, semi-arid environment, potentially mineralisable N (PMN, as determined by anaerobic incubation) explained 21% of wheat grain yield (P = 0.003), whereas there was no significant relationship between wheat grain yield and inorganic N fertiliser application. We also assessed the spatial pattern of PMN using a structured grid soil sampling strategy over a 10-ha area (180 separate samples, 0–0.1 m). PMN in each soil sample was determined by standard biochemical analysis and also predicted using a fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR). Findings illustrate that FTIR was able to significantly predict (P < 0.001) PMN values in soil and has the advantage of enabling high sample throughput and rapid (within minutes) soil analysis. Given the relatively low cost of FTIR machines and ease of use, such an approach has practical application in situations where analysis cost or access to equipped laboratories has hindered the measurement and monitoring of soil N supply within paddocks and across regions.

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Risk of Low Productivity is Dependent on Farm Characteristics: How to Turn Poor Performance into an Advantage

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11195504 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (19) ◽

pp. 5504 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Peltonen-Sainio ◽

Jauhiainen

Keyword(s):

Crop Production ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Production Systems ◽

Poor Performance ◽

Farming System ◽

Environmental Benefits ◽

Farm Size ◽

Production Region ◽

Farm Type

The principle role of agriculture is to produce food for the increasing human population. However, the environmental footprint needs to be simultaneously reduced. Data from the Finnish Food Authority (181,108 parcels in the south-western crop production region of Finland) were used to identify the farming system, farm type, farm size, field parcel scale, physical parcel characteristics, cultivated crops, crop rotations and cultivars. Sentinel-2 derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values were used to identify fields with very low productivity. Thereby, the impacts of farm and field characteristics on risks of low NDVI values and their associated means of coping by the farmer were studied. High variations in field parcel characteristics and growth capacity were typical in the studied area. Although it is challenging for farmers, high variation can provide many opportunities for the development of multifunctional and resource-smart production systems, e.g., by optimizing land use: allocating high-quality fields for food production, and poorly performing fields for extensification, i.e., the production of environmental benefits. Many usable policy instruments are available to support such a transition, but more focus should be put onto the most efficient means to enable progress towards environmentally, economically and socially sustainable high-latitude agricultural systems.

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A Conceptual Framework for Incorporation of Composting in Closed-Loop Urban Controlled Environment Agriculture

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13052471 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 2471

Author(s):

Ajwal Dsouza ◽

Gordon W. Price ◽

Mike Dixon ◽

Thomas Graham

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Conceptual Framework ◽

Crop Production ◽

Closed Loop ◽

Crop Residues ◽

Production Systems ◽

Environmental Benefits ◽

Future Research ◽

Controlled Environment ◽

Controlled Environment Agriculture

Controlled environment agriculture (CEA), specifically advanced greenhouses, plant factories, and vertical farms, has a significant role to play in the urban agri-food landscape through provision of fresh and nutritious food for urban populations. With the push towards improving sustainability of these systems, a circular or closed-loop approach for managing resources is desirable. These crop production systems generate biowaste in the form of crop and growing substrate residues, the disposal of which not only impacts the immediate environment, but also represents a loss of valuable resources. Closing the resource loop through composting of crop residues and urban biowaste is presented. Composting allows for the recovery of carbon dioxide and plant nutrients that can be reused as inputs for crop production, while also providing a mechanism for managing and valorizing biowastes. A conceptual framework for integrating carbon dioxide and nutrient recovery through composting in a CEA system is described along with potential environmental benefits over conventional inputs. Challenges involved in the recovery and reuse of each component, as well as possible solutions, are discussed. Supplementary technologies such as biofiltration, bioponics, ozonation, and electrochemical oxidation are presented as means to overcome some operational challenges. Gaps in research are identified and future research directions are proposed.

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Evaluation of cover crop sensitivity to residual herbicides applied in the previous soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr] crop

Weed Technology ◽

10.1017/wet.2019.10 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 312-320 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Derek M. Whalen ◽

Mandy D. Bish ◽

Bryan G. Young ◽

Aaron G. Hager ◽

Shawn P. Conley ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cover Crops ◽

Cover Crop ◽

Crop Production ◽

Production Systems ◽

Ground Cover ◽

Crop Species ◽

Cereal Rye ◽

Crimson Clover ◽

Crop Establishment ◽

Study Results

AbstractIn recent years, the use of cover crops has increased in U.S. crop production systems. An important aspect of successful cover crop establishment is the preceding crop and herbicide program, because some herbicides have the potential to persist in the soil for several months. Few studies have been conducted to evaluate the sensitivity of cover crops to common residual herbicides used in soybean production. The same field experiment was conducted in 2016 in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Tennessee, and Wisconsin, and repeated in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, and Missouri in 2017 to evaluate the potential of residual soybean herbicides to carryover and reduce cover crop establishment. Herbicides applied during the soybean growing season included acetochlor; acetochlor plus fomesafen; chlorimuron plus thifensulfuron; fomesafen; fomesafen plus S-metolachlor followed by acetochlor; imazethapyr; pyroxasulfone; S-metolachlor; S-metolachlor plus fomesafen; sulfentrazone plus S-metolachlor; sulfentrazone plus S-metolachlor followed by fomesafen plus S-metolachlor; and sulfentrazone plus S-metolachlor followed by fomesafen plus S-metolachlor followed by acetochlor. Across all herbicide treatments, the sensitivity of cover crops to herbicide residues in the fall, from greatest to least, was forage radish = turnip > annual ryegrass = winter oat = triticale > cereal rye = Austrian winter pea = hairy vetch = wheat > crimson clover. Fomesafen (applied 21 and 42 days after planting [(DAP]); chlorimuron plus thifensulfuron and pyroxasulfone applied 42 DAP; sulfentrazone plus S-metolachlor followed by fomesafen plus S-metolachlor; and sulfentrazone plus S-metolachlor followed by fomesafen plus S-metolachlor followed by acetochlor caused the highest visual ground cover reduction to cover crop species at the fall rating. Study results indicate cover crops are most at risk when following herbicide applications in soybean containing certain active ingredients such as fomesafen, but overall there is a fairly low risk of cover crop injury from residual soybean herbicides applied in the previous soybean crop.

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Effect of Plastic Mulch Type on Fomesafen Dissipation in Florida Vegetable Production Systems

Weed Science ◽

10.1017/wsc.2017.48 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 66 (1) ◽

pp. 142-148 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Thomas V. Reed ◽

Nathan S. Boyd ◽

P. Christopher Wilson ◽

Peter J. Dittmar

Keyword(s):

Cover Crops ◽

Field Experiments ◽

Production Systems ◽

Oxidase Inhibitor ◽

Vegetable Production ◽

Plastic Mulch ◽

Purple Nutsedge ◽

Growing Seasons ◽

High Concentrations ◽

Polyethylene Mulch

Mulches used in plasticulture systems could decrease dissipation of fomesafen, a protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibitor, and dissuade producers from using the herbicide for fear of crop injury in subsequent growing seasons. Field experiments were conducted in Balm, FL, in 2015 and 2016 to investigate the effect of different plastic mulches on fomesafen dissipation, squash tolerance, and efficacy on purple nutsedge. Squash was injured less than 5% from fomesafen applications. The use of plastic mulches reduced purple nutsedge density at transplant by 60% compared with the no-mulch treatment. At transplant, treatments with low-density polyethylene mulch (LDPE), virtually impermeable film (VIF), and totally impermeable film (TIF) mulch had greater than 2-fold the fomesafen concentrations than treatments with clear or no mulch. At harvest in 2015, LDPE, VIF, and TIF treatments had greater fomesafen concentrations than clear and no-mulch treatments; however, concentrations in 2016 were similar for all treatments. Fomesafen can persist at high concentrations throughout the growing season in Florida plasticulture possibly limiting producer options for crop rotation and the use of cover crops.

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Initial Experimental Experience with a Sprayable Biodegradable Polymer Membrane (SBPM) Technology in Cotton

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy10040584 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 584 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Michael V. Braunack ◽

Raju Adhikari ◽

George Freischmidt ◽

Priscilla Johnston ◽

Philip S. Casey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Biodegradable Polymer ◽

Crop Production ◽

Production Systems ◽

Early Stage ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Polymer Membrane ◽

Innovative Technology ◽

Plastic Pollution ◽

Plastic Mulch ◽

Stage Of Development

Preformed biodegradable and next generation sprayable biodegradable polymer membrane (SBPM) formulations, which biodegrade to non-harmful products (water, carbon dioxide and microbial biomass), have been introduced as an alternative to plastic mulch films in order to mitigate plastic pollution of the environment. In this preliminary field study on cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), a novel SBPM technology was compared to preformed slotted oxo-degradable plastic (ODP) mulch film and no mulch control (CON) in terms of yield, crop water productivity (CWP), and soil temperature. The first results showed higher CWP and crop yield, and increased soil water content under the SBPM cover. This study indicates that SBPM technology could perform at similar level as ODP or comparable films under field conditions and, at the same time, provide environmentally sustainable agricultural cropping practices. Additionally, the fully treated, non-replicated SBPM plot had a wetter soil profile throughout the entire crop season. This innovative technology has shown a high potential even at this early stage of development, indicating that advances in formulation and further testing can lead to significant improvements and thus increased use in crop production systems.

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