By Rachel Atwell, Ph.D. Candidate, Crop Sciences, North Carolina State University, and 2016 Next Generation Delegate

This spring, I attended the Chicago Council on Global Affairs' Global Food Security Symposium, and I found the event to be inspirational! My graduate research is primarily focused on applied agronomic research that will help farmers in the Southeast United States conserve resources and enhance profitability. These research projects often have a narrow focus, and outreach is targeted towards farmers in and around North Carolina. Attending the Global Food Security Symposium, where I was exposed to broad perspectives on food security, will prove foundational in my ability to think about agricultural issues in a fuller, global context. The Global Food Security Symposium was a fantastic experience and provided exposure to many issues facing agricultural production throughout the world, particularly those social aspects of agricultural production which are part of the big picture of agriculture, but not part of my daily research.   

The primary focus of my research is cover crops. Cover crop use can provide a multitude of benefits to farmers. I think cover crop use is a great fit for many farmers in the region where I work, but prior to the Symposium, I had paid little attention to cover crop use on a global scale. The Global Food Security Symposium got my wheels turning on the feasibility of extending the research we are conducting on cover crop use in the Southeast United States to farmers on a global scale with operations of many different sizes.

So what is a cover crop? A cover crop is grown during a cash crop’s off season when the soil might normally sit fallow, and it is terminated prior to cash crop planting. There are many benefits that cover crop use can provide to agricultural production. Some of these benefits include soil erosion reduction, fertility provision, reduced pest and disease incidence, weed suppression, and potential soil moisture conservation. Many of the benefits of cover crop use could be incredibly valuable for farmers throughout the world who have limited access to certain resources. As an example, cover crop use could reduce dependency on chemical fertilizers and herbicides which can be expensive and difficult to access for farmers in certain regions. Fertility provision and weed suppression provided through cover crop use could alleviate dependency on agricultural inputs that are difficult to access for some farmers. Cover crops are also recognized for their ability to conserve soil moisture for the cash crop if left on the soil surface where the cover crop mulch can reduce soil evapotranspiration and water runoff. This could be an important benefit for areas prone to drought.

Cover crop use also comes with its challenges, however. When farmers are busy planting and harvesting their cash crops, it can be difficult to prioritize cover crop establishment because you are often not making a direct profit from the cover crop. Cover crop termination could also be challenging for farmers that have limited access to equipment and herbicides. Additionally, in some areas of the world where farmers can have two or three cash crops in one field each year, cover crop use could compete with cash crop acreage and may reduce profitability. To obtain the full benefits of cover crop use, education as to their benefits and challenges would be necessary for farmers across the globe .

There will be grand agricultural challenges to be solved in the future. I think there is a place for cover crop use to aid in addressing some of these challenges. Many efforts are already in place to help farmers across the globe improve the sustainability of their farming operations through cover crop use. Strengthening research and extension work has been recognized by the Council as an important element in achieving global food security, and expanding research and extension efforts focused on cover crop use by farmers across the globe could have a profound impact.
 

Read previous posts in the Next Generation Delegation 2016 Commentary Series:

• Rising Food Needs Put Pressure on Sustainable Agriculture
• Technological Transformation: A Way to Increase Food Availability around the World
• Institutional Support of Weather Index Insurance for Smallholder Integration 
• Beyond the African Smallholder Productivity Gap 
• Prudent Food Utilization Guarantees Sustainable Food Security in Light of Growing Urbanization
• Perspectives at the Global Food Security Symposium 2016
• Food Safety: An Opportunity Often Overlooked when Planning How to Feed Our Burgeoning Population 
• Investing in Younger Generations Is Key to Solving World Hunger by 2050 
• Made in _______: Distant Food Demand Lead to Local Water Issues 
• Reevaluating the Agricultural Development Agenda
• Promoting Food Security While Avoiding the Nutrition Transition