About the Project

The purpose of this project is to address the most prevalent critical management concerns of limited resource organic vegetable producers, which include weeds, insect pests, and diseases, and to support profitable, sustainable crop production. Lincoln University of Missouri was awarded a $474,141.00 grant from the USDA NIFA Organic Agriculture, Research and Extension Initiative, entitled “ Scale-Appropriate Strategies: Cover Crop-Based No-till Systems for Small Vegetable Farmers.”  Dr. Frieda Eivazi, Professor of soil and environmental sciences in the College of Agriculture, Environmental and Human Sciences, is serving as the project director for this multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional project, in a collaboration with the University of Missouri-Columbia, the University of Massachusetts, and Oregon State University. 

Research is being carried out at the 280-acre Lincoln University Alan T. Busby Organic Research farm, which is one of the key centers for organic research and extension in the Midwest. Four different cover crop based no-till systems, with five varying spring termination methods are being evaluated. Information on soil health, weed density, arthropod diversity, weed seed predation, as well as soil borne and foliar disease incidence, and summer squash and beet crop yield is being gathered. An economic analysis will be performed to evaluate inputs, labor and sales value within each production system. The outreach objective of this project is to disseminate research-based information on cover crop-based no-till systems to increase awareness among small- and mid-scale organic producers, and to foster the adoption and implementation of these systems.

For more information on this project contact: EivaziF@LincolnU.edu.