Ambika Chandra, Ph.D., at the 2024 Turfgrass and Landscape Field Day
Research and experiments are exciting to read about, but even more fun to see up close and personal. Texas A&M University and Texas A&M AgriLife scientists working in turfgrass recently gave people that chance at their Turfgrass and Landscape Field Day.
Hosted this year at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Dallas, home of AgriLife’s turfgrass breeding program, attendees got to see what the center's scientists have been working on.
“You can think of it like an open house,” said Ambika Chandra, Ph.D., co-host of the event, professor and assistant director of the center. “That one day of the year when we open up our research facility for anyone who is working in the turfgrass industry, whether they are the producers or the customers of turfgrass, and they have the opportunity to come and have a behind-the-scenes of the research that we are conducting.”
The event alternates between Dallas and College Station each year, and Chandra co-hosted this year's event with Pablo Agustin Boeri, Ph.D., assistant professor and turfgrass extension specialist. She said that seeing people excited to learn and engage about turfgrass makes all of the event planning worth it.
“The best part was just to see all those people and interact with people and how they were so interested in learning,” Chandra said. “That’s why they were there, they value research, science and they want to make data-driven decisions.”
This year's field day covered a wide range of topics: breeding, equipment, cultivar development, shade tolerance, herbicide and pesticide use, soil amendments and more.
“We’ve been working on developing new and improved varieties of turfgrasses,” Chandra said. “But all of this with one sort of mission in mind: sustainability and developing these varieties of turfgrass that are low-input.”
Low-input means requiring less water, less fertilizer and less pesticides, regardless of what the turfgrass will be used for, she explained.
Water is an important component in turfgrass research. While the grass cannot be used food for animals, it can help prevent soil erosion, help water infiltration, improve groundwater recharge, produce oxygen, sequester carbon and provide a safer playing surface for people.
“It’s a living entity and like any other living entity it needs food, it needs water,” Chandra said. “Trying to make it more sustainable, using less water and fertilizer, and still being able to provide those ecosystem services is certainly a goal for our program.”
Another goal for the turfgrass program Chandra emphasizes, is to be a resource for those wanting to learn more about the topic.
“We really want people to know that we are here to help; for anything related to turfgrass, we are here to help,” she said.
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