Soil and Crop Science Conference
On June 7, students from the Bioenergy School attended the annual meeting of the Florida State Horticultural Society and the Soil and Crop Science Society of Florida in Crystal River, Florida. The conference attracted graduate students, professors, company representatives, and growers alike interested in applied research pertaining to horticultural and agronomic crops and products. The morning began with the poster presentations, many by University of Florida-IFAS researchers. A project by the IFAS Manatee extension office discussed the use of best management practices for the protection of Florida’s water resources. They recommended the use of reclaimed water for irrigation of landscaping but advised that the nutrient levels can vary by a factor of 10 or more depending on the treatment plant supplying the water. The plant should be contacted to obtain information on nutrient content. The nutrients in the reclaimed water can serve as a fertilizer and therefore regular fertilizer application should be adjusted. Over-irrigation can lead to surface water runoff and transportation of nutrients to lakes, streams, and ponds. They also recommended that care be taken when choosing a turfgrass for a Florida lawn by researching the characteristics of lawn grass species, such as required soil type, salt tolerance, nematode tolerance, and maintenance level.
The student presentations began with Scott’s research on “Algronomy: Developing Novel Crops for Bioresource Production”. The term “algronomy” is the study of algae including their biology, ecology, and uses as food, bioresources, or water treatment. Algae grow wherever there is water and sunlight and therefore have potential for farm cultivation. He explained that certain species of algae are more proficient at producing lipids under periods of stress and that these lipids have the possibility of being extracted for use as a biodiesel resource. His research is currently focused on phycoprospecting and determining the conditions under which they are most efficient at producing lipids.
Next, Ryan presented his work on “Biofertilizer Potential of Food Waste Anaerobic Anaerobic Digestion on Small Farms”. He explained that much of what ends up in landfills is actually food waste, which produces much of the methane being flared before reaching the atmosphere. His project is to determine the amount of food waste that can be diverted from landfills into biodigesters for methane production.
Jinghau Fan presented her research on “Immobilization of Cu in Contaminated Soils Using CA Water Treatment Residuals”. The application of copper-fungicides for preventing and curing of citrus diseases such as canker is increasing the accumulation of copper in citrus soils. She is working on using calcium based remediation applications that have shown to reduce the soluble amount of copper ions in the soils. However, she says that once the calcium is leached, the levels of soluble copper in the soil increases again.
Doctoral student Samuel Glucksman presented research on the “Evaluation of Fungicides on White Mold of Peanuts”. He found that White Mold was best controlled by the treatments of a combination of Echo and Provost and Echo and Evito fungicides.
Ronald F. Gonzalez presented his work on the “Response of Floratam St. Augustine grass and Empire Zoysiagrasss to Phosphorus Supply in Hydroponic Culture”. He found that the St. Augustine grass takes up phosphorus gradually and continuously while the Zoysiagrass does so quickly until it is all gone.