Buried Plastic Under Crops Boosts Yields

Buried Plastic Under Crops Boosts Yields CROPS Miscellaneous Sheets of plastic buried in fields are boosting crop yields in Michigan The new technique involves using contoured engineered membranes placed below the root zone According to Alvin Smucker professor Michigan State University and developer of the concept it works regardless of weather “It worked well in 2012 when we had record heat and drought and it’s working well this year with record rainfall ” says Smucker “Last year it held moisture and nutrients and this year it held nutrients but let excess moisture drain through while nutrients were retained Most nutrients were leached below plant root depths in other fields ” SWRT short for “subsurface water retention technology” is intended for use in sandy soils under irrigation increasing water use efficiency by as much as 20 times The membrane spacing traps needed moisture while leaving room for roots and excess drainage It works so well that during the 2012 drought crop yields with the membranes exceeded production in normal years and far exceeded control plots that year Corn on conventional 30-in spacing increased by 135 percent and corn on 15-in row spacing increased by 174 percent Cabbage and cucumber yields were doubled and potato yields increased by 50 percent Increased yields recovered the full cost of the membrane installation in the first year This year Smucker is working with SWRT on corn soybeans and sweet corn in Michigan and cotton in Texas The barrier installation implement places one layer of membrane spaced on 24-in centers at a 22-in depth with a second layer of membranes at an 18-in depth and offset between the deeper membranes Membranes are projected to last at least 40 years Each membrane is laid in an upward open U-shaped position “We have USDA funding to expand our research and take it to 50 farms around the country ” says Smucker “We are having membrane installation equipment fabricated in the U S and Canada We are looking for farmers currently irrigating crops on coarse sand ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Alvin Smucker Department of Crop and Soil Sciences Michigan State University East Lansing Mich 48824 ph 517 355-0271 ext 1251; smucker@msu edu; www msu edu/~smucker

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