Tubs of red, orange and yellow tomatoes lined the edge of a research plot as dozens of visitors gathered around them at Oregon State University’s Vegetable Research Farm, evidence of what the plants had produced without irrigation during the growing season.
Nearby, cosmos bloomed along a field row while melons, cucumbers, sorghum and other crops filled plots across the farm.
The productive-looking plants illustrated both the potential and complexity of dry farming, the focus of OSU’s Dry Farming Field Day. Researchers showed growers, gardeners and agricultural professionals how they are testing crops, varieties and production practices that rely on moisture stored in the soil rather than irrigation during Western Oregon’s dry summers.
The field day also highlighted the Water Resilience Toolkit, an online collection of resources for farmers and agricultural service providers preparing for changing water conditions.
The annual event, presented by the Dry Farming Program in the OSU Center for Resilient Agriculture and Food Systems, highlighted research on tomatoes, drought stress, seed production and crops ranging from cucumber melons to cut flowers.
But Matt Davis, a senior faculty research assistant in OSU’s Department of Horticulture in the College of Agricultural Sciences who leads the Dry Farming Program, cautioned visitors against assuming what they saw could simply be reproduced on any farm.
Source : oregonstate.edu