Soil and soil science

In the 1990s, long before "regenerative agriculture" was a buzzword and "soil health" became a cause célèbre, a young graduate student named Jeff Mitchell first learned about similar concepts during an agronomy meeting in the Deep South.

Doctoral student Valentina Roel is looking at ways to use food scraps and yard waste as alternatives to nitrogen fertilizer for crops. When processed, the leftovers and garden trimmings being diverted from state landfills might be effective substitutes, because they contain both nitrogen and carbon in forms that promote soil health.

They also provide a path for slowing climate change.

This spring, Feed the Future Innovation Labs for Horticulture and for Markets, Risk and Resilience had the pleasure of co-hosting U.S. State Department Special Envoy for Global Food Security, Cary Fowler, for a two-day visit at the University of California, Davis.