The Solar Corridor Crop System Community (SCCS)
Prioritizing the effective BioCapture of the sun's bountiful Energy source, while making better use of and conserving Earth’s precious Water resources to produce more Food and renewable Energy (in which carbon is captured from the current carbon cycle, instead of cycling carbon from prehistoric sources created when the dinosaurs roamed the earth); we think the SCCS appropriately fits the Food, Energy, Water (FEWS) Nexus.
Accordingly, The Solar Corridor Crop System Community is honored to offer the following White Paper for your consideration as an appropriately competitive NSF submission.
FEWS White Paper:
Efficient Use of Energy, Carbon and Water Through Interdisciplinary Synergies for Increased and Sustainable Food Production
Submitted by:
The Solar Corridor Crop System Community (SCCS)
WB Evans, Mississippi State University
RJ Kremer and T Reinbott, University of Missouri
CL Deichman, Deichman Consulting
When American colonists broke through the Cumberland Gap, they found more land than they thought they could ever farm. They didn't have enough people to farm all of the newly discovered land! Itwas appropriate, then, to develop a production paradigm that enabled each farmer to farm more land, which has been developed to the remarkable capability and capacity that each farmer continues to have more land to farm today.
Potential farmers to farm the land was the most limiting factor; rather than limited available arable land as it is now; i.e. Good Arable Available Land has now become the most limiting factor instead of Potential Farmers to farm it.
Thus, the highly successful paradigm that has evolved to serve theU.S.farmer and society so well, for so many generations and still in use today, should not be expected to be the optimum sustainable production paradigm for the new reality, as stated above - productive farm land is the finite resource, not potential people to farm it.
Accordingly, The Solar Corridor Concept offers a uniquely productive Interdisciplinary vision, which prioritizes sustainable productivity per land unit area above productivity per person; which enables us -
1.To make more effective use of a vast renewable resource thatis naturally accessible - atmospheric sourced Solar Radiation.
2. It effectively turns another vast (potential) renewable resource,that is identified as a major contributor to climate change,into a more productive vast (actual) resource - atmospheric CO2.
3.Itenables more productive use of our basic but diminishing finiteresource - good productive arable farmland.
4. It enables more (hybrid specific) corn production per planted seed.
5. ItImproves the multi-component quality & quantity of specific soil biota, active carbon, biological activity, soil health and sustainability.
Hypothetically and based on our observations
6 - 8. It enables more effective use of and conserves water;and reduces plant lodging, soil compaction, erosion, sedimentation and pollutant concentration in our streams
9. It enables more efficient use of essentially all soil-based nutrients required to produce corn and other crops.
It will, however, require more human resources, which are not diminishing unlike our productive arable farmland.
This interdisciplinary vision warrants the opportunity to be validated wherever its performance potential is positively expressed on a site-specific basis in the U.S. and around the globe.
On a corn yield basis, our hypothesis has been extensively tested by our seminal research, validated by the U.S. patent Office (Deichman, 2000), and replicated by peer review research published in Nelson (2014)in the Feature Article of Agronomy Journal Vol.106, Issue 5.It was demonstrated that on a hybrid specific basis, we can produceas much or more corn on one 60 inch (152 cm) wide twin row as we can produce in two 30 inch (76cm) conventional narrow rows, or stated another way, itdoubles the production per row;leaving the other I/2 of the rows, now vacated, for additional crop yield, soil conservation, and improvement in soil quality or soil health.Additional research by Kremer and Deichman (2014)in the special Agronomy Journal issue demonstrates the potentialforsequestration of more carbon into the soil and rhizosphere.
We need comprehensive research(listed below in ER1- 7) in nearly all supporting bio-disciplines to transform our concept into the appropriately designed, developed and deployed site-specific Solar Corridor Crop Systems paradigm shift wherever it can increase the production of nutrient dense foods and feeds, and vegetative residues for fodder or biofuel production.
It has many crop rotation or sequence options(Deichman, 2000, 2009; Nelson, 2014). The option mostattractive is that whereby a solar corridor is positioned between every twin row of corn based on 30 inch or 36 inch equipment. I.e. 60 or 72 inch rows. Based on our original vision and seminal research this has been a most productive system for the corn component and subsequent results demonstrate this as the most productive for two of the three adapted hybrids in our solar corridor field studies. (one hybrid did not require twin rows or more than 1/2x plant population to produce 200 bu/A corn).Corn does not need to be the 'main' crop. It is the one that the originator knows best and the only one tested for that purpose. It is obvious, however, that the 'floor' crop tested extensively for that position, soybeans, would also work well as the 'main' crop.
Comprehensive Research Needed:
* ER1. Site Specific Corn Variety Screening Trials across all latitudes, and major soils where corn is grown, to identify the varieties that have the potential to maximize the extra resources made available by the solar corridor at the test locations.
ER2. Run the protocol Deichman described in the seminal research.
ER3. Run the Cultivar Screening trials to compliment results of ER2.
ER4. Run the soil fertility studies necessary to meet the specific nutrient requirements of the specific new solar corridor crop production paradigm and support all items called for in item 1 on ASA's SCCS web page.
ER5. Support the development of the varieties required to maximize the specific response to the uniquely enriched production environment enable by the appropriate Solar Corridor Production System (SCCS).
ER6. Support the development of the Precision Agriculture machinery required for commercial deployment.
ER7. Support the Extension of the SCCS to the appropriate production scale.
Appendix
'Main' crop is the crop that captures the full benefit of the corridor throughout its life cycle.
'Floor' crop is the crop growing on the floor of the corridor or is the 'main' crop between fall harvest until the main crop retakes position
of 'main' crop in the spring. I.e. Winter wheat with stubble clover crop.
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Solar Radiation, (in the form of incident sunlight) may be, both;
1. the most significant contributor to cost effective corn yield increases
and
2. the least recognized as such, by the crop input industry and growers, alike.
The Solar Corridor Crop System restores, both, solar radiation (in the form of incident sunlight) and atmospheric CO2 to their rightful position as pre-eminent cost effective contributors to maximum yield in corn, all C-4 crops and essentially, all other crops.
Water, on the other hand, as it should be, is universally recognized as a vital pre-eminent contributor to yield.
Thus, each of the three major external contributors to the basis of all crop yield, (photosynthesis);
I. Solar radiation, in the form of incident sunlight, as the energy catalyst.
II.CO2, as the carbon source for carbohydrates & resulting crop yield.
III.Water, as the other consumption component of carbohydrates has maximum opportunity to contribute to maximum productivity through the solar corridor's ability to maximize the capture, utilization and mobilization of all Three.
In the most basic of terms,
Incident sunlight> CO2 + H2O enable the plant to produce simple sugars that, with subsequent essential plant processes, subject to source and comprehensive essential nutrient supply, are converted into complex sugars, proteins and enzymes that control and dictate subsequent crop growth and productivity.
The solar corridor concept enables us to maximize the production opportunity that we have when incident sunlight, CO2 or H20 are no longer limiting factors in crop yield.
References
Deichman, C.L. 2000. Plant arrangement for improving crop yields. U.S.Patent 6052,941. Date issued: 25 Apr. 2000.
Deichman, L. 2009. A sustainable farming system to maximize photosynthesis.Proceedings Farm System Design Symposium, Monterey, CA. 23–26Aug. 2009. Int. Environ. Model and Software Soc., Monterey, CA. p.87–88.
Kremer, R.J. and C.L. Deichman. 2014. Soil quality and solar corridor crop system. Agron. J. 106:1853-1858.
Nelson, K.A. 2014. Corn yield response to the solar corridor in upstate Missouri.Agron. J. 106:1847–1852.
Respectfully,
C.LeRoy Deichman, CPAg, CCA
Interdisciplinary Corn Production Agronomist, Deichman Consulting
Presiding Leader, Solar Corridor Crop System (SCCS) Community.