Kansas State University researchers and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem have been awarded $310,000 by the Binational Agriculture Research and Development Foundation (BARD) to collaborate on a project to optimize nitrogen use in wheat. The funding is part of a $310,000 grant for a smart sampling research project.
Raj Khosla, head of K-State's Department of Agronomy, emphasizes the need for increased wheat yield and balanced nutrition for Kansas farmers. Applying nitrogen presents challenges, as excess can cause lodging and insufficient can lead to low protein content. Precision tools are needed for effective nitrogen application.
The research team, comprising experts from K-State and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, will concentrate on developing spatio-temporal techniques for precision nitrogen management. These techniques will consider both macro-scale (soil) and micro-scale (crop) variability, along with weather parameters.
Precision agriculture technologies, including equipment guidance, automatic steering, yield monitoring, remote sensing, in-field electronic sensors, and spatial data management systems, will be leveraged to support this endeavor.
They aim to expedite the research process for wheat by drawing on their knowledge and applying it to a three-year project focusing on wheat in the United States and Israel. By utilizing the best available geospatial tools, the researchers aim to address the nitrogen conundrum effectively.
BARD, founded in 1977, is a funding platform for collaborative agricultural research between Israeli and U.S. scientists, providing $315 million in competitive funds since its inception. It supports mutual interests and scientific innovation.
K-State and Israel are collaborating on a joint project in early 2024. Principal investigator Ittai Herrmann will work with Khosla, while K-State's agronomy department's Jeffrey Siegfried and Dipankar Mandal, and Israel's Institute of Plant Science Roi Ben-David, will collaborate
The collaborative effort between two nations aims to improve wheat productivity, nitrogen use efficiency, and environmental sustainability. Kansas farmers will benefit from these findings, enabling them to optimize wheat production while preserving the environment.
Photo Credit: istock-zhaojiankang
Categories: Kansas, Crops, Wheat