October 13, 2008

ISSUE 1240

As a result of the efforts of FFVA and other members of the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance, the industry will receive increasing annual investments in specialty crop research over next 10 years.

Announcing the first of these annual allocations Oct. 8, Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said that USDA has awarded more than $28 million to further study critical specialty crop agriculture issues through the Specialty Crop Research Initiative.

A total of $28,365,000 was disseminated in 27 grants to universities and partner research facilities in 17 states. Although 17 institutions will manage the research/extension grant funds from this program, each award includes collaborators from an average of three other states who will work together in a multi-disciplinary approach to solve problems.

Six projects in which researchers from the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) have partnered are funded. Those include:

Michelle Danyluk (UF PI) and K. Schneider, with Colorado State (lead institution), Rutgers, Ohio State, and UC-Davis for “Risk Assessment of Sampling Methods for Assessing the Microbial Safety of Fresh Produce,” coordinated agriculture project, UF subaward is $297,645.

Reza Ehsani (UF PI) with Abrigo, Schuman, and Murraro from UF and Carnegie Mellon (lead Institution) for “Integrated Automation for Sustainable Specialty Crops Farming,” science delivery project, UF subaward is $831,874.

Reza Ehsani (UF PI) with UC-Davis (lead) for “Multi-tasking Sensor Platform for Precision Management of Specialty Crops,” planning grant, UF subaward is $4,000.

Phil Harmon (UF PI) with University of Georgia (lead), NC State, Miss. State, and USDA. Other UF Co-PIs are P. Lyrene and D. Hopkins for “Advancing Blueberry Production Efficiency by Enabling Mechanical Harvest, Improving Fruit Quality and Safety, and Managing Emerging Diseases;’ UF subaward is $403,571.
Russ Mizell (UF PI) with Knox, Funderburk, Mannion, and Norcini from UF for “Planning Meeting for Woody Landscape Plant Production and Pest Management Innovation,” planning grant for $92,308.

Susan Webb (UF PI) with USDA-ARS-US Horticultural Research Laboratory, Fort Pierce, FL (lead institution); USDA-ARS-US Vegetable Laboratory, Charleston, SC; Glades Crop Care; and FDACS-DPI; "Development of a Decision Support System for Managing Viral Watermelon Vine Decline and Other Vegetable Diseases Caused by Whitefly-Transmitted Viruses," UF subaward is $177,474.

Each award required 100 percent matching funds from non-federal sources, doubling the impact of the grants. Funded projects will address research and extension needs for crops that span the entire spectrum of specialty crops and, with few exceptions, the projects of award recipients addressed key needs in more than a single crop.