NMSU researcher at Clovis ag center receives soil grant

A New Mexico State University researcher stationed at NMSU’s Clovis Agricultural Science Center has received a $742,170 grant from a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture as part of an effort to improve soil health in the U.S.

Rajan Ghimire, assistant professor in NMSU’s Plant and Environmental Sciences Department, was awarded one of 10 grants nationwide on behalf of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Soil Health Program.

Ghimire has also received recognition recently for his work to learn how soils can contribute to keeping waste carbon out of the atmosphere by burying it underground, a process called carbon sequestration.

The NIFA grant will support Ghimire’s project entitled “Establishing a Soil Health Framework for Water-Limited Regions.” The NMSU news release said the project’s focus is identifying soil health indicators and developing a framework for soil health assessment in arid and semi-arid regions like eastern New Mexico.

Ghimire said on Friday this research is likely to bring direct benefits to agriculture in Curry and Roosevelt County areas.

“With the Ogallala Aquifer going down, agriculture is being abandoned as soil capacity is reduced,” he said. When soil falls into disuse, he said, its capacity to produce diminishes, not only from lack of irrigation, but from lack of fertilizer application and other factors.

The NIFA grant research, Ghimire said, will help establish best practices for irrigation and “whatever can be done to make sure the soil is still working.”

Ghimire said he has been working with semi-arid soils for abut 13 years. Before coming to Clovis, he said he worked in eastern Oregon and Wyoming that have similar soil and water conditions as eastern New Mexico.

“This project will develop a soil health assessment framework specific to our agro-ecosystems,” Ghimire said in the news release. “We will better understand the role of diverse approaches, including cover cropping, crop rotation intensification, and compost application, to improve soil health while minimizing environmental impacts.”

According to the news release, Ghimire’s research goal is to understand and improve efficiency of soil, plant and environmental interactions to achieve better efficiency, profitability and soil environmental quality of dryland and limited-irrigation cropping systems. Recently, the focus of his work has been on soil health assessment and management, soil carbon and nitrogen cycling, and water management, the news release stated.

Ghimire’s research team includes Sangu Angadi, a professor of crop physiology based at the Clovis facility, and collaborators from Colorado State University and the USDA’s agricultural research service centers.

In an initiative to support research projects centered on leading the way to improve soil health across the U.S., one researcher at New Mexico State University was selected to receive $742,170 from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“It means a lot,” Ghimire said. “It reflects recognition of our work on soil health and soil water dynamics, the trust at NMSU, and the research team that we can deliver.”

NIFA invested over $7 million that will contribute to advancements in the scientific understanding of soil physical and biochemical processes.

“Soil health status varies with climate, soil type, environment, and management practices. This project will develop a soil health assessment framework specific to our agroecosystems,” he said. “We will better understand the role of diverse approaches, including cover cropping, crop rotation intensification, and compost application, to improve soil health while minimizing environmental impacts.”

“Funded projects from USDA NIFA like this are valuable because we can answer some fundamental questions on soil health management in arid and semi-arid regions facing challenges due to soil degradation, water scarcity, and high climatic variability,” he said.