News Stories - Page 8

For Jennifer Jo Thompson, finding solutions to meet the increasing global demands for healthy, affordable and accessible food requires an un-siloed approach in higher education and leadership. Through a collaborative project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Higher Education Challenge Grant, Thompson is leading UGA’s Sustainable Food Systems Initiative in a collaborative project with the Food Studies Program at Spelman College.

Consumers hold high standards for fresh food, which farmers aim to meet, but hot summer temperatures and long-haul deliveries can degrade quality even before produce makes it into stores. In a collaborative study, Angelos Deltsidis, assistant professor of horticulture in the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, teamed up with UGA Cooperative Extension agents to improve upon a decades-old method of precooling to increase efficiency and reduce postharvest losses along the value chain.

Spray drones with pinpoint accuracy, produce-picking robots, autonomous systems to monitor broiler chicken health, and artificial intelligence to predict yield before the buds have faded from the trees — these are some of the solutions integrative precision agriculture promises an industry that is embracing the power of technology to address both age-old and emerging challenges.

Roses are red … and dozens of cultivated hues. Whatever their colors, they are among the most popular flower throughout the year for many consumers, from long-stemmed Valentine’s bouquets and Mother’s Day arrangements to a bounty of varieties available for planting in landscapes during the summer and fall.

The shape of a tomato is more important than many of us realize. While some breeding programs focus on disease resistance, higher yield or drought tolerance, University of Georgia plant geneticist Esther van der Knaap and her research team are one step closer to elucidating the protein interactions that regulate the fruit shape of tomatoes.

Near the University of Georgia Griffin campus, Jordan Knapp-Wilson walks into a peach orchard equipped with a myriad of laser-equipped scanners, targets and tripods. He’ll spend the next few hours using data collection tools with the potential to change the peach industry.