View Source | September 15, 2013
In a September 10 broadcast on PBS' program, Arizona Horizon with Ted Simons, Senior Sustainability Scientist and associate professor Hallie Eakin talks about her research on water management among cotton farmers in the Southwest. Eakin is currently partnered with experts from the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension to study cotton farmers' perspectives on water sustainability.
During her interview, Eakin says Arizona has experienced an economic recession and continued drought that has brought unique opportunities for cotton farmers.
"Cotton is a water-consumptive crop compared to some other alternatives," Eakin says. "But we have to think about the conditions in which cotton is grown here. It's not only a crop that can survive in highly salinated soil, it actually does really well here in the desert. Part of our study has been looking at what really are the things that worry farmers in terms of the viability of their production."