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If you're a vegetable producer in Virginia, you're in luck.
The state's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has awarded the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University $5 million over the next year and a half to develop "climate-smart, economically efficient, and environmentally sustainable precision agricultural practices," the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.
"There is an urgent need to address vegetable production yield and capacity issues by accelerating technical, workforce, and economic efficiencies for vegetable producers in the commonwealth and throughout the United States," Virginia Tech's Center for Advanced Innovation in Agriculture says in a press release.
According to the release, vegetable production uses a significant amount of water, making yield susceptible to environmental changes caused by climate change-induced severe weather events such as extended wet and dry periods.Shifting growing environments also foster disease in vegetables, which increases chemical use, can reduce crop yield by more than 20%, and lessens vegetable nutritional value.
The project's goal is to use artificial intelligence to help producers make more effective and adaptive decision-making.
"This user-inspired practical project is getting industry, producers, and stakeholders involved in a collaborative manner that pushes everyone forward," co-investigator Kang Xia says.
The project's first phase will focus on developing sensor platforms
Selected Grant News Headlines
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
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"I fell in love with patient safety and quality improvement and since then continued to pursue that path." That's how Consuelo (Coty) Ong describes her path to a master's degree in precision...more
"Not only does it make fiscal sense, but it's simply better patient care to allow the caregiver and child to remain in a comfortable environment' where they can safely be monitored from home,'" Greg...more
Foundation: Marguerite Casey Foundation, Marguerite Casey Foundation, Kresge Foundation
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When it comes to sustainability, Entrepreneur says, "it takes more than just lip service." That's because it takes a "thorough commitment to evaluate every aspect of your operation to develop...more
Foundation: Indianapolis Foundation
Lynne Arriale's new album, Being Human, is all about "people who exemplify Passion, courage, love, curiosity, and other human qualities," the Florida pianist tells Rita Kohn of the Indianapolis...more
When Unoma Okorafor started working on her master's degree in computer science at the African University of Science and Technology in Abuja, Nigeria, in the mid-'90s, she had no idea she'd end up in...more
"Time-trap thinking seems logical," writes Lori Carrell in the Los Angeles Times, "but it's short-sighted: Degrees mean real earning power and career growth, and many students do work during...more
Foundation: Gates Foundation
Melinda French Gates is stepping down as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which she founded with her ex-husband Bill Gates more than 20 years ago. As part of an agreement made...more
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JustFund, a grantmaking platform built by funders and organizers of color, aims to revolutionize philanthropy by making it more equitable and efficient.
