Crop Diversity in Semi-Arid Cropping Systems.

Crop Diversity in Semi-Arid Cropping Systems

Water is a deciding and foremost limiting factor of crop production in rain-fed semi-arid environments of Western US. Considering the relative magnitude of semi-arid acreage in the Western US, the agricultural production contribution of this agro-environment to the future food and energy security can be significant, if appropriate research efforts are made to address the production constraints. Winter wheat cropping system is  predominantly seen in the semi-arid environments of Southern Great Plains where winter wheat is rotated with either sorghum or fallow. Production capacity of this winter wheat cropping system is almost stagnated over years, mainly due to limited input supply and crop rotation choices. Long-term sustainability of  semi-arid environments depends on the  innovation of  input-efficient cropping systems with diverse crops to meet the local food and forage demand. A research trial was initiated in the NMSU research station in Eastern New Mexico to investigate different crop rotation choices with the traditional winter wheat and non-traditional alternate cropping systems to optimize the production capacity by increasing the input efficiency, especially water and nitrogen. Various advantages/disadvantages of rotation crops in winter wheat and alternate cropping systems will be discussed.