By Chinmayee Priyadarshini
PhD student Chinmayee Priyadarshini is working on the a National Institutite of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) study “Impacts of agricultural systems on the dynamics and functions of soil and tomato-associated microbiome and productivity,” with Dr. Xia Ye and Dr. Rattan Lal. The study focuses on improving the plant health and disease resistance via soil health management. The project aims at investigating the synergistic impact of cover crops, bio stimulants and fungicides on the soil aggregation, soil moisture retention and the C-N dynamics under tomato vegetation. While most previous research indicates individual benefits of cover crops and AMF on soil aggregation and soil carbon, studies on cover crop, AMF, Fusarium and fungicide synergy on the soil aggregation and soil carbon is very limited. The field experiments were established in the year 2022 at the Waterman Farm. The field experiment consisted of 4 treatments with cover crop, AMF, Fusarium and fungicide in a split plot design. Soil samples were collected from two depths, 0-10 and 10-20cm, with a core sampler and soil auger for both physical and chemical analysis.