Center studies effect of plastics on agriculture and horticulture

By JENNIFER NEJMAN
Collegian Staff Writer

Plastic mulch, plastic drip irrigation, plastic hay bale wraps, plastic pots, plastic row covers and plastic greenhouse covers.

"There's not a horticulture crop that wouldn't benefit from plasticulture," said Mike Orzolek, professor of vegetable crops at Penn State and director of the Center for Plasticulture. "I guess it's a way of mitigating Mother Nature's terrible stuff -- the lack of rainfall, high temperatures and other extremes."

To study the effects of plastic on plants and crops, the Center for Plasticulture was established in June 1998 within the department of horticulture in the College of Agricultural Sciences. Some forms of plastic have been used in agriculture and horticulture almost since their discovery in the 1960s, Orzolek said.

The goals members have for the center, he said, are to extend the knowledge as well as the use of plasticulture in horticulture production and to implement environmentally friendly education programs to aid local growers.

"There are all sorts of production problems that consumers never realize," he said. "If you lose the grower, you lose the food supply. We all want to eat, but nobody wants to grow it."

Plasticulture is a way to increase the profits of the growers in the Northeast. To study the process of using plastic tunnels during the growing season, the center has constructed 12 polyethylene tunnels, which are 17 feet by 36 feet, at Rock Springs and plans to construct more. Opening flaps in the tunnel provides ventilation and reduces humidity, Orzolek said.

"The only way growers can grow sweet potatoes in the Northeast is with plastic," said Bill Lamont, associate professor of vegetable crops, who is involved with the center. Strawberries and okra grow nicely in this area using plastic mulch and drip irrigation, he added.

Plastics can solve many growing problems -- they extend the growing season, reduce the use of pesticides and improve the appearance of fruits and vegetables -- but they also produce waste.

"How do you get rid of this plastic once you use it?" Lamont asked. "It's in there in the landfills."

In addition, growers must buy new coverings and mulches every year, he said. For this reason, the center wants to work on ways to recycle plastic and reduce waste.

Researchers from the Penn State Combustion Laboratory in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, the University of New Hampshire, McGill University and Rutgers University are participating in this project.

Orzolek said in September 2000 an international meeting of the researchers who work in agricultural plastics will be held in Hershey.