Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2017KY270B

Optimizing yield and water use efficiency of soybean production in Kentucky - experimental and modeling approach

Institute: Kentucky
Year Established: 2017 Start Date: 2017-03-01 End Date: 2018-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $10,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $20,001

Principal Investigators: Montserrat Salmeron

Abstract: Soybean grown in Kentucky can have a wide planting window that spans from April to early July for double-crop soybeans planted after a winter cereal. The choices of soybean cultivars that can grow successfully in the region can range from short-season maturity group (MG) 2 to full season MG 4 and even 5. Investigating the yield potential and the water-limited yield response across this wide range of management options and across different locations, years, and soil types under field conditions has a large cost and can be unfeasible. For this study, we propose the use of mechanistic crop simulation models in combination with field research trials to study these complex soybean genotype x management x environment interactions. We will ultimately provide preliminary estimates of water use to the USGS for different climatic regions in Kentucky, different water management (irrigated vs. rainfed), and different soil types, that can be used as inputs for hydrological units (HUC12).