Browse Grants and Partnerships Stories - Page 3

A plant pathologist at the University of Georgia Tifton campus is using a grant from the Georgia Farm Bureau to study a bacterial disease that is harming the state’s blueberry crops. 

University of Georgia Department of Horticulture Professor Bodie Pennisi has been named a UGA Public Service and Outreach (PSO) Faculty Fellow for 2019-2020. The program provides UGA professors with an opportunity to apply their research and course curriculum to the needs of a specific PSO unit at the university.

Two University of Georgia researchers have been awarded Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Brian Kvitko and Gaelen Burke, both faculty members in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, were awarded the five-year grants this year.

In agricultural research, scientists across disciplines often find themselves working to address the same issues as colleagues at other institutions. To help advance and streamline this important work, funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) allows land-grant university scientists to work collectively to answer questions with a broad scope.

Tomatoes have been bred to create a wide array of colors, shapes and sizes, but not much commercial work has been done on breeding tomatoes that taste good.

The University of Georgia has been awarded a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture to develop organic methods of controlling the Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD). 

With the advent of CRISPR technologies and other precise genome editing methods, it has become faster and easier for crop scientists to breed new varieties. But there are still a few technical roadblocks that need to be overcome.

While many people know that the microbes in our guts are an important part of our health, many are unaware that microbes are just as important to our crops.

From elongated tubes to near-perfect spheres, vegetables come in almost every size and shape. But what differentiates a fingerling potato from a russet or a Roma tomato from a beefsteak? Researchers at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences recently found the genetic mechanism that controls the shape of some of our favorite fruits, vegetables and grains.

One of the steepest barriers to profitable controlled-environment agriculture is the energy cost associated with providing the plants enough light, but new research being pioneered by University of Georgia could cut those costs by 50 percent.