W e are in a most exciting time for scientists and practitioners in agronomy working together to apply knowledge across disciplines with the goal to produce more and better food sustainably on a limited space. The Solar Corridor Crop System Community is unique within the ASA in that it focuses on a new para- digm that attempts to maximize solar radiation interception through spatial arrangement of plants and combining core principles represented by the Societies’ disciplines includ- ing crop production, plant physiology, genetics and breed- ing, soil health, precision agriculture, and tropical legumes. The basis of this community is the solar corridor crop system (SCCS) developed by Leroy Deichman through years of observation as a crop consultant in the Midwest. The SCCS is a variation of strip intercropping, which is based upon cultivating two or more crops simultaneously in different strips across the field for greater use of solar ra- diation, water, and nutrients compared with monocultures of either of the component crops. The “edge effect” that results from strip intercropping is the same principle of the SCCS except that only one crop is used in the basic design. Rather than growing corn uniformly in 76-cm (30-inch) row widths, corn is planted in either single or twin 152-cm (60-inch) rows, allowing for more light penetration and interception by lower leaves of corn (Fig. 1). Benefts of the System Since current high-yield production utilizes only a fraction of the available supply of incident sunlight and atmospheric carbon dioxide, planting corn in the SCCS can maximize grain yield if the correct corn hybrids are se- lected. However, not all corn hybrids respond to the SCCS. Early studies by Leroy Deichman found that only 10% of corn hybrids screened in the SCCS system adequately responded to the missing rows, and those that did had a strong “flex” ear response. A flex ear response is an ear that will grow larger and yield more relative to the spatial plant arrangement. Many corn hybrids today have more of a “fixed ear” habit and do not increase proportionally to the spatial arrangement of plants. There are two other main benefits provided by the SCCS, which include greater soil health parameters based on increased root exudates and production of a secondary or cover crop established in the corridor. Studies by Bob Kre- mer have shown that greater interception of solar radiation by corn in the SCCS increases root exudation of C substrates throughout the growing season, leading to enhanced rhizo- sphere microbial activity and subsequent nutrient cycling, plant growth promotion, and pathogen suppression, all of which are soil quality indicators that are often limited in conventional monoculture systems. The corridor of the SCCS brings an opportunity to introduce a high protein crop such as cowpea or supplementation with a cover crop or forage (Fig. 2 and 3). Each of these crops present different objectives and challenges but also an opportunity to take advantage of any light that penetrates the corn canopy that is not intercepted. These corridor crops can increase the The Solar Corridor Crop System by LeRoy Deichman and Timothy Reinbott Know Your Community From l to r: Schematic of the solar corridor cropping system (Fig. 1), oat and red clover planted as a cover crop foor crop in the solar corridor (Fig. 2), and cowpea planted as a high-protein grain foor crop in the solar corridor (Fig. 3). Photos by Robert Kremer. continued on page 21 March 2018 CSA News 19 Published online March 8, 2018