People

We want to determine the feasibility of growing rice in "no-till"soils with respect to yields, N requirements and weed pressure. Overall, the key dependent variables that will assess affecting grain yield are weed control and nitrogen management. Most rice growers in California till both in the fall and the spring to incorporate rice straw, and prepare the seedbed, respectively. Harvesting equipment can leave deep tracks in the field that prevent rice establishment and promote weed problems, so "no-till" rice systems are often unsuccessful. While fall tillage is necessary to level the field and incorporate straw, minimum-till rice systems with no spring tillage are an option and have been evaluated in the southern United States and Asia. No-till systems have been shown to reduce yields by as much as 5.1%, so our nitrogen trials will help us determine the amount of N fertilizer required to attain the same yields as tilled rice. Foregoing spring tillage can have many benefits such as reduce fuel energy consumption and cost, ability to plant earlier, better control of herbicide-resistant weeds, and minimizing soil disturbance. Having been a member of the University of Maryland's Soil Quality Laboratory studying the effects of early-planted cover crops and nitrogen uptake, as well as agricultural technician at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center of the USDA, I am excited to work in a completely new crop system to help develop more sustainable and efficient farming techniques.

I study crop management practice of alternate wetting and drying (AWD) as a water-saving irrigation practice that reduces the environmental impact of dry season production, as well as plant-nutrient relationship under AWD and other different water management practices. Given that rice is a dietary staple crop for half of the world's population, improving water use efficiency (WUE) is a keystone for creating sustainable agriculture. Furthermore, water intensive practices in farming may decrease grain concentration of essential micronutrients that might be beneficial for coping nutrient-related issues. Therefore, enhancing WUE is vital to solve the global challenge of sustainable cultivation, and at the same time improving yield and nutritional quality, and both of those will be my main research focus for my dissertation.

Hello my name is Ashley Pearce, I am passionate about solving problems through agronomic practices and precision agriculture methods. My research focuses on the response of California rice varieties to different pre-plant nitrogen rates. I utilize canopy reflectance measurements and vegetation indices such as NDVI to monitor the nitrogen status of rice throughout the growing season. By combining this information with rice straw nitrogen analysis, yield components, and grain quality information, a comprehensive understanding of nitrogen needs across rice varieties can be formed. This understanding will contribute to more precise applications of nitrogen, benefiting farmers and the environment. Prior to my work in the Linquist lab, I completed a Masters in the UC Davis Weed Science department with Dr. Mesgaran. My work involved using transference and machine learning to locate weed patches in cotton fields using satellite imagery.

The focus of my current research is to explore alternative irrigation management strategies as a means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from rice soils without negatively impacting yields

I am passionate about fieldwork and research related to plant nutrition, soil fertility, GHG emissions, water use, and sustainable agriculture. My Ph.D. project focused on optimizing planting date and the application of organic and mineral fertilizers to enhance quinoa production in Morocco. My interest in GHG emissions and sustainable agriculture deepened during my time as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at UC Davis, where I evaluated the sustainability of quinoa cultivation using the life cycle assessment approach. Currently, my research focuses on exploring no-till rice systems in California, and specifically evaluating their potential to conserve water and reduce GHG emissions.