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Geographic screening of potential alternative crops

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2007

C. Roger Bowen  and
Steven E. Hollinger
C. Roger Bowen
Affiliation:
Department of Crop Science, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
Steven E. Hollinger*
Affiliation:
Atmospheric Environment Section, Illinois State Water Survey, 2204 Griffith Drive, Champaign, Illinois 61820, USA.
*
*Corresponding author: hollingr@uiuc.edu
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Abstract

Alternative crops, with appropriate markets and infrastructure, provide farmers the potential for diversification to offset financial stress caused by an overabundant supply of a limited number of species grown over a broad area. The objective of this work was to develop a model that would identify where soil and climate conditions are likely to be suitable for a large number of crops over a large geographic region. The model was used to screen 414 crops for suitability to Illinois conditions. The 414 crops were a subset of 968 candidate crops, for which crop soil (texture, pH, drainage) and climate (temperature, precipitation, growing season length, minimum winter temperature) requirements were identified from a literature search. The simple model was linked to geographic information system software to evaluate the suitability of the soil and climate conditions of Illinois. Two of the 414 crops were classified as highly suitable in more than 50% of the state's land area, 18 suitable in more than 90% of the state, and a total of 83 crops were rated as suitable to highly suitable in more than 90% of the state. Comparison of the suitability maps to known ranges of existing crops, and limited evaluation of 15 crops classified as suitable, moderately suitable and unsuitable for Urbana, Illinois conditions in a demonstration plot, showed this model's utility to a limited area, and suggests that the model can be applied to any region where geographically referenced soil and climate data either exist or can be developed.

Keywords

alternative cropscrop suitabilityclimate suitabilitysoil suitabilitygeographic information systems
Type
Research Article
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , September 2004 , pp. 141 - 151
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

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