This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Project will investigate pioneering technology to regulate the microclimate on plant surface(s) to reduce heat-related damage and subsequent economic losses. This would be especially beneficial in the southern U.S. where excessively high temperatures occur for prolonged periods. Further, the possibility of global warming will likely have an impact on economic crops. As temperatures exceed the optimum range for a plant, deleterious symptoms develop. Heat-induced symptoms in plants include pollen sterility (e.g. corn), stunted growth, smaller/deformed fruit, decreased quality, fewer fruit, less pod fill, and boll drop (in cotton). This project will address those critical temperatures where the above-mentioned problems begin to develop by actually regulating the temperature on the plant surface within a range where damage is eliminated or reduced. Innovative microencapsulation techniques for phase change materials (microPCMs) and their uses have been developed by Triangle R&D (Subcontractor) on SBIR programs from 1984 to 1998. We will evaluate the compatibility of microPCMs and the targeted plants; design and fabricate microPCMs to provide the optimum temperature range(s) for the target plants; and evaluate the microPCM(s) to regulate the plant surface microclimate and reduce heat-related symptoms. In 1996, the combined value of soybeans, cotton, and corn in the U.S. alone was more than 47 billion dollars. Based on the percent of yield loss correlated with high temperatures and the temperature history in the southern U.S., values for these three major crops could easily be reduced by several hundred million dollars, if not more. In addition, drought conditions and subsequent irrigation reduce value and add cost to crop production. Finally, because of temperatures in the south and southwest, often less yielding, but more heat-tolerant cultivars are grown, thus potential for some high-yielding cultivars are not realized.
