Research will continue on organic agricultural production at West Virginia Universitys Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences thanks to a $150,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.


The grant will help to expand and continue the WVU Organic Research Farm project started in 1999. The project compares organic farming systems to assist growers in the transition from conventional to organic farming methods.


“Organic food production is a rapidly growing sector of the United States agricultural economy, and is considered by many to be inherently safer and better for the environment,”said James Kotcon, associate professor in the Division of Plant and Soil Sciences at the DavisCollege.


The new grant will allow researchers to evaluate long-term effects of crop rotations that began in 1999. Researchers will also investigate new poultry and sheep pasture rotations and how to integrate these with crop production in”whole farm”systems.


“Research will compare crop rotations and compost systems in plots with and without livestock to identify the benefits and costs of the various transition systems,”Kotcon said.


The WVU Horticulture Research Farm has been the site for the transition to organic farming practices. One of the techniques used at the site to enhance soil quality is called low-input farming, which consists of using legume-based rotations and green manure crops, generated on-site. High-input systems use off-farm resources in order to more quickly enhance soil quality and produce higher yields. Both systems are operated under similar production methods, and the comparison is focused on the amounts and sources of nutrients.


“West Virginia farmers, and citizens as a whole, will benefit from enhanced environmental and economic sustainability of organic growers as their individual production problems and whole farming systems are evaluated,”Kotcon said.