CSU Sign an International MoU with PAU, India

Colorado State University, College of Agricultural Sciences took another giant step towards globalization of the CSU campus by signing an International Memorandum of Understanding with Punjab Agricultural University, (PAU) India. PAU is one the leading agricultural university in India and is similar to land-grant universities in the US.

“The state of Punjab that occupy only 1.5% of the nation’s geographical area accounts for 22% of wheat production, 11% of rice production and 10% of the total cotton production in India, that is where the green revolution was started in India by Noble Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug” said Dr. Manjit S. Kang, Vice-Chancellor of PAU during the IMoU signing ceremony at the Provost Office in CSU on September 29, 2009.

Department of Soil & Crop Sciences Associate Professor of Precision Agriculture, Dr. Raj Khosla, who was recently recognized with the CSU Monfort Professorship, was instrumental in making this IMoU between the two Universities possible. In 2006, President Bush during his visit to India, signed a US-India Agricultural Knowledge Initiative (AKI). As a part of the AKI Capacity Building program, Dr. Khosla, was invited by USDA Foreign Agricultural Services in early 2007 to be a member of the US delegation for a workshop on Capacity Building in New Delhi. Later the same year, Dr. Khosla spent a few weeks in India visiting several agricultural institutions including PAU during his sabbatical leave. He was fascinated by the campus and on-going research being conducted at PAU. His visit led to forging research collaborations with his counterparts at PAU and resulted in hosting a visiting scientist Dr. J.S. Mahal from PAU for a year. “This IMoU will attract numerous more scientists from PAU to collaborate with us in different disciplines” he said.

Dr. Craig Beyrouty, Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, who is interested in visiting PAU in near future, added that “The IMoU would really allow and encourage active research collaborations among the scientists of the two institutions and would facilitate an exchange of faculty members and perhaps students in future”. Dr. Lee Sommers, Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station who was present at the IMoU signing ceremony said that “This IMoU provides an excellent opportunity for our faculty members and students to visit and collaborate with PAU”.

The PAU is located in Ludhiana in the state of Punjab in north-west India, about 200 miles west of the capital city of India, New Delhi. The university covers an area of 1,510 acres on its main campus and 4,615 acres at the regional research stations. The university has well equipped laboratories, library, and lecture rooms and elaborate farm facilities. The PAU has played a key role in increasing food grain production in the country and has been instrumental in ushering in the era of Green Revolution in India. In recognition of PAUs outstanding achievements in agricultural research, education and extension, it was ranked as the best agricultural university in India in 1995. The PAU has four colleges, i.e., College of Agriculture, College of Agricultural Engineering, College of Home Science and the College of Basic Sciences & Humanities. PAU offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in 34 different disciplines. More information about the university can be obtained by visiting http://www.pau.edu/.

Photo 1: CSU Provost Dr. Rick Miranda and Dr. Manjit Kang, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, India signing an IMoU between the two Universities
Photo 2: Dr. Raj Khosla taking active sensor readings on maize plants
Photo 3: From L to R: Drs Craig Beyrouty, Lee Sommers, Dwayne Westfall, Manjit Kang, Rick Miranda, Raj Khosla, Gary Peterson and Jim Cooney at the IMoU signing ceremony at CSU.

USDA Grant Expands CSU Graduate Assistantships for Alternative Energy

CSU has just received a four-year USDA-AFRI training grant to fund four Master’s student assistantships in biofuels development. The grant period is from November 1, 2009-October 31, 2013.

Principle Investigator Dr. Catherine Keske (pictured), assistant professor of agricultural and resource economics in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, states that this grant reinforces CSU’s national reputation as a leader in training students for careers in alternative energy. The training program will emphasize four areas: agronomy, crop genetics, engineering, and policy/economics. The training program will focus on training students to solve problems related to delivering oilseed-based biofuels to market, and students will be exposed to several experiential learning activities outside of the laboratory. Dr. Keske states that the program’s infrastructure is well integrated with current programs on campus, such as the Biofuels IGERT doctoral student training program and the Clean Energy Supercluster: “This program adds to the momentum and synergy that we are already experiencing on campus. It paves the way for future research and for more graduate student opportunities.”

Co-PIs Dr. Patrick Byrne (Soil and Crop Sciences), Dr. Jerry Johnson (Soil and Crop Sciences), Dr. Daniel Olsen (Mechanical Engineering) will lead the training efforts on the other key aspects of the oilseed education program. Dr. Byrne, who is the graduate coordinator for the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, notes that there is already student interest in oilseed biofuel-related projects. He states that applications have already started rolling in the door, and that the program’s first students may begin as early as January 2010.

New Wheat Variety Released by CSU named after Colorado '14er'

A new high-yielding variety of hard white winter wheat developed by the Colorado State University Agricultural Experiment Station has been released to the Colorado Wheat Research Foundation, or CWRF. Named "Snowmass" in honor of one of Colorado's 54 '14ers' (mountains more than 14,000 feet in elevation), the new variety has shown high yields in Colorado and overall disease resistance.

Superior mixing and baking characteristics

Snowmass also demonstrated such superior mixing and baking quality characteristics that it was accepted into the CWRF Ultragrain Premium Program with ConAgra Mills. This program will pay producers a premium of 30 cents per bushel over the market price for the 2010 crop, plus a protein premium of up to 40 cents based on the protein content of the wheat. Snowmass is the second CSU-developed wheat to be accepted into the program. Thunder CL, released in 2009, was the first.

Whole grain flour from new wheat

“The flour made from this wheat will be whole grain and used to make products with enhanced nutritional properties. ConAgra has very strict quality and agronomic standards for their Ultragrain product and it was quite an honor for Snowmass to be accepted into their grower program,” said wheat breeder Scott Haley, (pictured) professor in the Soil and Crop Sciences Department at CSU.

Ultragrain 100% whole wheat flour

Snowmass wheat will be used to make Ultragrain flour. Ultragrain is a 100 percent whole wheat flour that combines the nutrition and benefits of whole grains with the finished recipe qualities of refined flour. “Ultragrain flour is transforming the grain based product industry supporting the development and growth of new consumer products like whole wheat white bread,” said John Bartels with ConAgra Mills. “Snowmass represents ConAgra’s ongoing effort to bring value to producers, manufactures and consumers.”Whole grain white bread has seen a 14 percent annual increase in unit sales in the past year. As a comparison, the total fresh bread and rolls industry is down 2.5 percent in unit sales for the same time period.

Increased revenue for Colo. farmers

CWRF President Randy Wilks said the premium program is beneficial to Colorado wheat farmers and to ConAgra. “It gives Colorado farmers an opportunity for increased revenue, and ConAgra a broader source of hard white wheat to draw from, with varieties that are superior in milling and baking qualities,” Wilks said.“The release of this wheat is important to CSU because we are contributing to economic development, on the part of wheat producers in eastern Colorado and the processing industry as ConAgra will mill much of the flour of this wheat here in Colorado at their mill near Commerce City,” Haley said.

Excellent disease resistance

In several years of field testing throughout eastern Colorado, the Snowmass wheat variety has shown exceptional yield under dryland conditions, and excellent disease resistance, said Haley. Haley leads a team of researchers, including Extension entomologist Frank Peairs and Extension agronomist Jerry Johnson, which focuses on improving wheat varieties for Colorado's farmers.

10 years to develop Snowmass wheat

It took 10 years to develop Snowmass, Haley said, with the first cross-breeding taking place in 1999. CSU's wheat breeding program has established itself as a dependable developer of new, productive wheat varieties for Colorado growers. In 2009, about 61 percent of all wheat acreage in Colorado was planted to varieties developed by CSU. In an agreement between CSU, CWRF, and the Colorado Seed Growers Association, ownership and marketing rights of Snowmass were offered to the CWRF, and accepted on Aug. 12. Snowmass is the 14th variety developed by CSU to be released to CWRF.

Certified seed

Snowmass may be grown and sold only as a class of certified seed by Colorado Seed Growers Association members licensed by CWRF. The foundation will obtain a certificate of plant variety protection for these new varieties under the federal Plant Variety Protection Act. Royalties paid to the foundation by certified seed growers from the sale of these varieties is returned to CSU to support continued wheat research and variety development.

• Colorado State University Agricultural Experiment Station

Soil and Water Conservation Society Awards

Several members of the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences were recipients of the Fellow Award from the Soil and Water Conservation Society's 2009 Awards Program. The designation of Fellow is conferred on society members who have performed exceptional service in advocating the conservation of soil, water, and related natural resources. This award is given first and foremost for professional excellence. Professional achievement may be in practicing, investigating, administering, or teaching soil and water conservation or closely related fields. Only society members with at least 10 years of membership are eligible.

The recipients are:

Jessica G. Davis - Jessica Davis has spent much of her career helping livestock producers manage manure as a resource to improve soil quality while protecting water quality. Her research and extension efforts have been targeted toward solving real-world resource problems in practical ways. Dr. Davis has been very active and effective in service and leadership within Colorado State University, the state of Colorado, much of the Great Plains and the Latin American countries of Argentina, Uruguay and Guatemala. Dr. Davis has been active within the Soil and Water Conservation Society by serving as a Director of the Board of Directors of the Colorado Chapter, as well as making presentations at SWCS functions in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and SWCS International annual meetings. By transforming the complex science of nutrient management into practical information on managing manure as a crop nutrient resource, Dr. Davis continues to provide exceptional service that gets conservation on the ground, the hallmark of a true SWCS Fellow. See article on Department News Page.

Ronald F. Follett - Dr. Follett is recognized nationally and internationally as a leading authority on soil erosion and crop productivity, water quality, soil carbon sequestration, nitrogen in the environment, global climate change, US agroecozones, and field experimental procedures. He has been invited to review, speak, or advise about research in Mexico, Canada, Chile, Algeria, Austria, China, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Ireland and the United States.

Dr. Follett twice received the Distinguished Service Award (USDA’s highest award), a USDA Superior Service Award, Northern Plains Area Scientist of the Year, and the US Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service, along with a host of other awards. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy, the Soil Science Society of America, and the Soil and Water Conservation Society.

Dr. Follett has also been active in SWCS, as well as his other professional societies. As a member of SCWS, he has served as president of the Colorado Chapter for 1996 and 2006, both being years when the Colorado chapter hosted the SWCS national/international meetings in Colorado. In 2002 he organized the conference Carbon as a Potential Commodity that was sponsored by the Colorado Chapter of SWCS. In 2006 and 2007, Dr. Follett served as Interim Northern Plains Regional Director for SWCS.

The Soil and Water Conservation Society awards its most prestigious award, the 2009 Hugh Hammond Bennett Award, to Dr. Ronald F. Follett with respect and appreciation for his efforts to foster the science and art of natural resource conservation.

Ardell D. Halvorson - Dr. Halvorson has spent his entire 37+ year career with the USDA Agricultural Research Service developing reduced-tillage and intensive crop management practices to solve problems such as poor water-use efficiency, soil erosion, saline seeps, and investigating the N and P needs of Great Plains Crops to optimize yields and crop quality in an environmentally sound manner. His research led to the development of more extensive dryland and irrigated cropping systems that improved water and nutrient-use efficiency in the Northern and Central Plains. In closely aligned research, Dr. Halvorson showed that conversion to reduced-and no-till systems, from conventional stubble-mulch tillage, enhanced adoption of intensive dryland cropping systems because of increased soil water storage efficiency. This resulted in a significant increase in economic return to adopters’ while decreasing soil erosion by wind and water. Dr. Halvorson has played a vital role in the development and farmer adoption of reduced tillage and more intensive dryland cropping systems. He is a prominent Great Plains leader in the development of management practices that achieve optimum economic yields.

Dr. Halvorson is an active member of the Soil Water Conservation Society, the Soil Science Society of America, the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, and the American Registry of Certified Professionals in Agronomy, Crops, and Soils. Most recently he is serving as the Colorado SWCS chapter president in 2009. He is a Fellow of SWCS, SSSA, and ASA. Dr. Halvorson was also awarded the USDA Distinguished Service Award in 1992.

Based on Dr. Ardell Halvorson’s many and major research and technology transfer accomplishments related to improved soil and crop management practices and N and P fertility needs of Great Plains dryland and irrigated cropping systems, he is well deserving of the SWCS Conservation Research Award.

News from the Agricultural Experiment Station

Dr. Abdel Berrada, Research Scientist and manager of the Southwestern Colorado Research Center, recently completed a Fulbright research grant to assess drip irrigation in Morocco. Faced with chronic water shortages, the government of Morocco put
forth an ambitious plan to equip 700,000 ha or 50 percent of the total irrigated land in Morocco with drip irrigation by the year 2022. Most of this acreage would be achieved by converting from inefficient flood irrigation methods to drip irrigation. The main tool used to encourage growers to adopt drip irrigation is a government
subsidy that covers 60 percent of the total initial investment cost. Approximately 163,000 ha were equipped with drip irrigation at the end of 2008. Most of this acreage belonged to medium or large land owners and most of it was in horticultural crops, particularly fruit trees.

Smaller farmers were less likely to convert to drip irrigation due to its high investment cost, the difficulty to obtain loans (the subsidy money is not disbursed until after project completion), or non-familiarity with drip irrigation. Other constraints include illiteracy, type of crops grown, and the subsidy approval process, which is lengthy and cumbersome. In order to reach its target, the government plans to convert 218,000 ha to drip irrigation on a collective basis, meaning that whole irrigation sectors would be converted to drip irrigation.

The government will build the infrastructure to bring pressurized and filtered water to each farm but each farmer will be responsible to equip his/her land with drip irrigation and receive the 60 percent subsidy. Additional incentives (e.g., greater subsidy, trust funds
to guarantee loans to small farmers, etc.) may be needed to convince farmers (mostly small land holders) to sign on the program. Many are not convinced that drip irrigation would work or be profitable for their crops such as wheat, barley, or alfalfa. All the drip irrigation installations I visited were surface drip irrigation systems whereby driplines were laid on the soil surface, which may interfere with field operations. Most were designed and installed by consultants or irrigation companies with little grower participation. The average cost of a drip irrigation system in the Oum er Rbia river basin was $5,400/ha (US$1 = 8.5 Moroccan dirhams) and varied with farm size, crops grown, and degree of sophistication. Approximately 70 percent of the farms equipped with drip irrigation had a water storage reservoir. Water reservoirs allow growers to store their surface water allocation, which they receive every two to four weeks and thus are able to use it on a more frequent basis with their drip system. Even growers who only have access to ground water (most use both surface and ground water to meet crop demand) build water reservoirs to add flexibility to their operation and qualify for the maximum subsidy amount ($4,235/ha compared to $2,590/ha if a reservoir is not built). There is the concern that the development of drip irrigation on a large scale would further deplete ground water, which has been used extensively in the last 20 years to supplement surface water.

Drip irrigation is not a panacea but may be the best hope to conserve irrigation water in Morocco and maintain or enhance agricultural productivity (produce more with less water). Morocco should continue efforts to improve existing irrigation methods. It should step up research and outreach programs to assist growers and consultants design and manage drip irrigation systems adapted to the social, economic, and agro-climatic conditions in the country.

If you have any questions about Dr. Berrada’s research, please contact him at: abdel.berrada@colostate.edu

Governor Brian Schweitzer receives the College of Agricultural Sciences Honor Alumnus Award

Montana's Governor Brian Schweitzer will receive the College of Agricultural Sciences Honor Alumnus award. Schweitzer was elected as Montana's 23rd governor in 2004. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in International Agronomy from Colorado State University and later earned a Master of Science degree in Soil Science from Montana State University. Schweitzer's business and agricultural experience is broad and deep, including extensive farming and ranching experience in Montana, and successful agricultural business projects on five continents. He began a career of irrigation development that took him to Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. In 1993, Schweitzer was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to serve on the Montana State USDA Farm Service Agency committee. He served for seven years with the FSA, and his three-person committee was responsible for the operation of 46 county offices, 300 employees and a budget of more than $300 million.

The Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Awards program recognizes CSU alumni and friends who have distinguished themselves professionally, brought honor to the University, and have made significant contributions of time and/or philanthropy to the university or their community.

Dr. Mary Stromberger in Ireland as Fulbright Scholar

Dr. Mary Stromberger, Associate Professor of Soil Microbiology, is spending six months in Dublin, Ireland, as a Fulbright Scholar, from January - June. Mary studies soil microbial community structure and activity in managed ecosystems, including working lands. At CSU, she recently studied the response of soil microbial communities to limited irrigation or biosolids land application, the effects of forest fuel thinning and chipping on soil carbon and microbial communities, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity in rangelands populated with native or invasive plant species. Mary also teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in soil ecology, soil microbiology, and environmental soil science.

In 2008, Mary received a Fulbright Scholar award to teach and conduct research in the School of Biology and Environmental Science at University College Dublin. The Fulbright Program was established in the US by Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946, to promote mutual understanding between the people of the United States and of other countries. At UCD, Mary is working with Drs. Olaf Schmidt and Aidan Keith on a stable isotope probing experiment to trace carbon flow from surface residues into soil and soil microbial communities due to the burrowing action of the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris (aka nightcrawlers). “I’ve always wanted to relate microbial communities to soil fauna, and the Fulbright award has allowed me to come to Ireland and work with experts in earthworm ecology and stable isotope techniques”, said Mary. Mary adds that her Fulbright experience “has been amazing so far”, and she looks forward to studying microbial-earthworm interactions in Colorado soils after she returns to CSU in June.