Wes Jackson

The Land Institute

Sauna, Kansas

Outline of Paper to be Presented at

Manitoba-North Dakota Zero Tillage Farmers Association

January 23, 1989

I. INTRODUCTION

• The problem of agriculture vs. problems in agriculture
• Motivation for our work: environmental and resource depletion concerns
• Long vs. short time frames
• Contrast of a prairie with corn or wheat field
• The four basic questions which guide our research

1) Can herbaceous perennialism and high seed yield go together?

2) Can a polyculture of such perennials outyield the monocultures?

3) Can such an agroecosystem sponsor its own nitrogen fertility?

4) Can such a system effectively cope or deal with the problems of insects, pathogens and weeds?

II. THE INVENTORY PHASE

1. The perennialism and high yield question

• Literature review
• Observations from nature and herbary establishment
• The 4300 accessions

2. The ecological inventory

• Early work at The Land (1977-1983)
• Phytomass survey of two native prairies (1984 - present)
• Insects and pathogens: prairie, herbary, plots
• Needed: soil survey of nutrients, organic matter, invertebrates, bacteria, fungi as well as role of vertebrate herbivores

III. SPECIES CURRENTLY USED IN OUR RESEARCH (DESCRIPTION, HABITAT, RANGE) AND THE REASONS THEY WERE ADOPTED (BIOLOGICAL QUESTIONS AND ULTIMATE UTILITY)

1. Wild Senna

2. Illinois Bundle Flower

3. Maximilian Sunflower

4. Eastern Gama Grass

5. Leymus

6. Sorghum hybrid

IV. WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED THUS FAR IN OUR ATTEMPTS TO ANSWER THE FOUR BASIC QUESTIONS

1. Can perennialism and high seed yield go together?

Our questions about yield automatically bleed into our breeding interests.

• Raw yield
• Density & yield
• Breeding

2. Can a polyculture of perennials outyield a monoculture of perennials?

• A biculture experiment
• A triculture

3. Can a perennial polyculture sponsor its own nitrogen fertility?

4. Can a perennial polyculture adequately control insects, pathogens & weeds?

• Insects and pathogens in the prairie and research plots
• Weed control in the polyculture

V. RESEARCH AGENDA FOR THE FUTURE

• Continuation of breeding work and ecological inventory
• Plant/Soil Relationship studies
• Planting of large scale polyculture in 1991