Dr. Wortman's Biomulch Research Project

Kristina Alas Author

04/21/2022 Added

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Learn about Dr. Wortman's work with Biomultch and how it is used and the potential benefits it may have for vegetable crop production.

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[00:00:08.160]Hello, plant scientists.
[00:00:09.860]Today we're going to learn about Dr. Sam Wortman
[00:00:12.960]and a study he conducted on biodegradable plastic
[00:00:16.640]and fabric mulch performance.
[00:00:18.910]So we're going to learn a little bit about Dr. Wortman,
[00:00:22.570]we're going to learn about the study he conducted,
[00:00:25.810]and at the end, we're going to look at some data
[00:00:29.180]he collected and how we can read that data.
[00:00:33.630]So Dr. Sam Wortman is an assistant professor
[00:00:37.030]at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
[00:00:39.540]and he focuses on environmental horticulture.
[00:00:42.670]His interest is in local, urban,
[00:00:44.860]and organic vegetable production,
[00:00:47.430]and he's studying biomulches
[00:00:49.520]because they can be used as alternatives
[00:00:51.850]to polyethylene mulch,
[00:00:53.790]which is commonly used in vegetable production.
[00:00:57.170]And growers are concerned
[00:00:59.300]about the disposal of polyethylene film
[00:01:02.100]and are seeking alternatives that provide the same benefits,
[00:01:06.170]and so that is why he is conducting this recent.
[00:01:11.690]So growers use polyethylene mulch
[00:01:13.820]because it helps control weed growth,
[00:01:16.570]it increases yields,
[00:01:18.330]it helps with temperature management,
[00:01:20.560]it has a low cost and it helps improve growth.
[00:01:24.510]And it's an environmental concern
[00:01:26.120]because it has to be removed and disposed of
[00:01:28.430]after each growing season.
[00:01:30.750]The most common way it is disposed of
[00:01:32.700]is by being stockpiled on farms.
[00:01:35.610]There are options to recycle it, but they are very limited,
[00:01:39.430]and hauling it to a landfill is very costly,
[00:01:43.050]and burning isn't an option because they are carcinogenic.
[00:01:48.400]Alternatives to polyethylene mulch are organic mulches,
[00:01:53.120]paper-based mulches, bioplastics and biofabrics.
[00:01:58.070]But bioplastics and biofabrics were used in the experiment
[00:02:02.430]because previous research that was conducted
[00:02:05.890]shows that they have the greatest potential
[00:02:08.810]to be an alternative.
[00:02:12.310]So seven treatments were used in the study.
[00:02:15.270]Bare soil was used as a control to compare six biomulches,
[00:02:20.240]and of the six biomulches, there were four biofabrics
[00:02:24.370]that varied in thickness, weight, and color,
[00:02:27.160]and highlighted in the yellow box
[00:02:29.510]there are two bioplastics.
[00:02:33.510]From 2013 to 2015 at the University of Illinois
[00:02:39.220]in Urbana, Illinois, the experiment was conducted.
[00:02:43.210]A total of five trials were conducted
[00:02:45.290]over that span of time,
[00:02:47.180]and you can see in the photos
[00:02:49.270]that each trial was arranged as a randomized block design
[00:02:52.770]with four replicate blocks.
[00:02:55.120]In 2013, you can see in the photo on the left
[00:02:58.660]was the cucumber trials, and that had two trials,
[00:03:02.330]one in the field and one in high tunnels.
[00:03:04.940]In 2014, which is the photo on the right,
[00:03:10.290]again, two trials were conducted,
[00:03:12.310]one in the field and one in high tunnel
[00:03:14.590]using tomatoes and peppers.
[00:03:16.670]And in 2015, only one trial was conducted
[00:03:20.030]in the field using cucumbers.
[00:03:24.240]So what type of data did Dr. Wortman collect?
[00:03:27.350]He collected data on soil temperature, soil moisture,
[00:03:31.640]weed emergence, crop yield,
[00:03:34.050]decomposition of biomulches in the soil,
[00:03:36.450]and mulch deterioration.
[00:03:38.740]In a few slides we are going to look at data,
[00:03:42.070]and the data that we are going to look at
[00:03:44.100]will be from the 2013 cucumber field trials
[00:03:48.500]for the decomposition of biomulches in the soil.
[00:03:54.720]So we need to learn how the data was collected.
[00:03:58.130]So the biomulch was incorporated into the soil
[00:04:01.970]after each growing season,
[00:04:03.680]and it was incorporated into the top 15 centimeters
[00:04:07.450]using a rotary tiller.
[00:04:09.210]And you can see in the photo
[00:04:11.300]the biomulch before and after incorporation into the soil.
[00:04:19.030]After the mulch was incorporated into the soil,
[00:04:22.440]it was then sampled at zero, six, and 12 months.
[00:04:26.960]And to get the samples, a golf hole cutter,
[00:04:29.570]which you can see in the photo,
[00:04:31.050]was used to remove eight core samples per plot at random
[00:04:35.060]from each experimental unit.
[00:04:37.510]The soil samples once collected
[00:04:39.770]were then sieved to recover mulch residues
[00:04:42.840]and then recovered mulch
[00:04:44.020]was then washed, dried, and weighed.
[00:04:48.270]So now we have background information
[00:04:50.900]on the experiment conducted by Dr. Wortman.
[00:04:54.880]So let's think, if we conducted this study,
[00:04:57.780]and in our cucumber field trial for 2013
[00:05:02.270]for the decomposition of the biomulches in the soil,
[00:05:06.330]here is data for two of the biodegradable fabrics.
[00:05:10.470]This is what you would be looking at.
[00:05:12.740]And so here is BK-1-270,
[00:05:16.690]and below it is BK-2-360, my two biofabrics.
[00:05:21.540]I have the four replicates for each,
[00:05:24.270]and I have their mass of the remaining biomulch in the soil
[00:05:28.240]at zero, six, and 12 months.
[00:05:31.140]So we're writing our article and we want our reader
[00:05:34.440]to be able to easily look at this data
[00:05:39.440]and understand what is happening.
[00:05:42.640]So to easily compare the biofabrics
[00:05:46.010]at zero, six, and 12 months,
[00:05:47.980]the first thing that we want to do is create a graph.
[00:05:51.820]And so to create the graph,
[00:05:53.250]we wanna take the averages of each replicate
[00:05:56.850]for each treatment at zero, six, and 12 months,
[00:06:00.240]and so we're going to find our average.
[00:06:04.220]So we're going to start by finding the average
[00:06:06.840]for our biofabric BK-1-270.
[00:06:11.370]And so to find the average,
[00:06:14.412]and the average is also considered the mean,
[00:06:17.130]we're gonna take the sum of the data,
[00:06:18.970]so step one, sum up all data points.
[00:06:21.960]So we're gonna add up at for zero months
[00:06:25.840]each mass for each of the four replicates.
[00:06:29.070]So down here, you can see that I've done that
[00:06:32.220]and I come up with 317.58.
[00:06:37.360]And then because we had four replicates,
[00:06:39.830]I'm going to divide that number by four
[00:06:43.570]and I get my average.
[00:06:45.580]And I will do that for six and 12 months
[00:06:49.020]and I will do that for my other treatment as well.
[00:06:53.960]So now that I've calculated my averages
[00:06:56.280]for both of my biofabric treatments
[00:06:59.040]at zero, six, and 12 months,
[00:07:01.610]I'm going to take this data
[00:07:03.420]and put it into Excel to create a graph.
[00:07:10.130]So I created a bar graph in Excel from my averages.
[00:07:14.500]So I have a graph
[00:07:15.880]of the average biomulch remaining in the soil.
[00:07:18.980]And as you can see, my biomulch treatments,
[00:07:22.640]I have BK-1-270 and BK-2-360.
[00:07:28.570]And I can easily compare them,
[00:07:30.640]the blue being immediately after incorporation,
[00:07:34.870]the orange is six months after incorporation,
[00:07:38.000]and the silver is 12 months after incorporation.
[00:07:41.430]So I can easily see what's happening during that timeline
[00:07:44.840]and it's also easier for my readers
[00:07:47.510]to understand what is happening.
[00:07:49.840]And there is more that we can do to understand the data
[00:07:54.860]for the decomposition of biomulch in the soil,
[00:07:57.630]but we are going to save that for a future lecture.

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Dr. Wortman's Biomulch Research Project

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