12/01/06 Sudan grass and green manure crops

A team of scientists from the University of Idaho is studying green manure crops and how they fit into potato production. Pamela Hutchinson and others from the Aberdeen Research Center have been working with the Shoshone Bannock Tribes on Fort Hall Reservation land. They want to see the cost-benefit of crops like mustard which can reduce pest problems for potatoes that follow wheat. Hutchinson says green manure crops are gaining popularity in Idaho and elsewhere. One of those crops is sudan grass. HUTCHINSON "Doctor Jim Davis, professor emeritus, right now retired with the University of Idaho, and he has research trial results showing how it helps build the subsoil which means that it just helps the good microorganisms multiply and hang out." Whether is sudan grass or mustard, farmers plow them down in the fall, disk them under and that releases their biofumigant compounds. When producers plant the potatoes the next year that helps to suppress some of the pests that normally attack the potatoes the following year. Hutchinson says green manure crops pay for themselves when compared to 140 to 600 dollars per acre for fumigation costs. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott