California has announced $1.4 million in grants to six academic projects to advance growers’ understanding and use of improved nitrogen and irrigation management practices.

Five of the six projects funded in the CDFA Fertilizer Research and Education Program’s latest round will be led by University of California, Davis researchers. The sixth, a $224,260 examination of winter cover crops on the Central Coast, is being led by the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County.

The largest grant, of $290,000, is going to Patrick Brown of UC Davis to identify the extent and cases of in-field potassium variability and develop an improved methodology for identifying areas of differential potassium demand, according to CDFA.

Brown and his team will also identify optimized potassium fertilization strategies, including site-specific fertilization strategies suited to the fertigated orchard context, and develop extension materials and platforms.

Since 1990, FREP has funded research on many of California’s important and environmentally sensitive cropping systems. For a summary of the latest projects, click here.

Source: California Department of Food and Agriculture