Key Topics American Vegetable Growers Should Watch for in 2024
January 1, 2024 It’s an exciting time in agriculture. There are so my advances, from a deeper understanding of how soil and plants interact to advances in labor-saving technology.
Here are a few of the things the American Vegetable Grower team are keeping an eye on in the coming year.
Green Nitrogen
Green nitrogen or fertilizer flips the script on a sustainable product. Rather than transforming the fertilizer itself, manufacturers are changing how they create it. Instead of using petroleum to manufacture nitrogen, suppliers rely on alternative fuels.
It’s still early days for green fertilizer, with no supply ready to hit the market that we know of. But we expect to see significant progress in the coming year.
Click here to learn more.
RNAi
RNA interrupters (RNAi) hold a great deal of promise as a new control. As we gain a much deeper understanding of genetic building blocks, we’re learning new ways to harness its power to our advantage.
It has the ability to silence genes and regulate protein-coding genes, offering optimism for crop protection. It’s such a fundamental cell operation, it potentially promises profound results.
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Drones
Drones showed a lot of potential 10 years ago when farmers began exploring their use. After the first flush of curiosity, however, their use faded to only a few growers. But the drone industry never gave up. Today, drones can carry liquid inputs, spraying directly onto crops.
In addition to increased ability to carry the weight of liquid applications, drones also benefit from fairly new operating rules. One pilot can run up
to three drones at a time. A second crew member needs to be present to quickly swap out spent batteries and refill
the cannisters.
This is only the beginning. Will we figure out longer lasting batteries and more efficient ways to re-load controls or fertilizers? We’ll soon learn the answers.
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Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology just may be the most unknown of the developments we’re watching. In the very early stages of research, nano particles have a lot of ag researchers excited. In one of the only peer reviewed journal articles on the tech, the University of Arkansas team wrote:
Nanoparticles (NP) offer the potential solution to depleted and dry soils, a method for the controlled release of agrochemicals, and offer an easier means of gene editing in plants.
NPs are tiny. They range in size from 1 to 100 nanometers, a size plant cells and soil microbes can easily absorb. For perspective, a sheet of paper is 100,000 nanometers thick. An atom? It’s 0.1 nanometers.
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Ag Census Releases
USDA conducted its every-five-year census in 2022 into early 2023. We’ll finally start seeing the results of that herculean effort in early 2024.
We’ll learn of any major shifts in crops grown, of states dominances, the demographics of growers, and much more.
Click here for more.
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