Project GREEEN announces $1.8 million in grants for plant agriculture research
Print
EmailProject GREEEN, (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs), the state's plant agriculture initiative, will fund 26 new projects this year and 36 continued projects.
Michigan’s plant agriculture and natural resources -- which contribute an estimated $91.4 billion to Michigan’s economy -- will continue to flourish, thanks in part to $1.8 million in research and outreach funding to Michigan State University (MSU) researchers.
Project GREEEN (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs), the state’s plant agriculture initiative, will fund 26 new projects this year and 36 continued projects.
Projects focus on protecting the state’s fruit and vegetable crops, increasing their quality and profitability, and improving and safeguarding Michigan’s tree and soil resources. Project topics range from developing better monitoring and management strategies for insects in tree fruit and comparing irrigation types to determine the most efficient water use for green roofs to improving disease management methods in potatoes and protecting ash trees from emerald ash borer through acoustic technology.
“We continue to get strong proposals for funding detection and mitigation strategies for invasive species,” said Steve Lovejoy, MSU Extension associate director. “Michigan’s crop diversity makes controlling invasive species particularly important. A number of the crops grown here don’t have a lot of chemical control strategies.
“We received more proposals than we could fund,” he added. “I wish we had enough money to fund them all.”
Project GREEEN is a cooperative effort between plant-based commodities and businesses, MSU AgBioResearch, MSU Extension and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
A complete listing of newly funded and continuing Project GREEEN research and Extension projects is available at http://www.greeen.msu.edu.
