USDA grant award for $5.16 Million to Dr. Lea-Cox
The Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture is proud to announce a US Department of Agriculture grant award for $5.16 Million. You can read the expanded press release here.
The USDA - National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded a $5.16M Specialty Crops Research Initiative Grant, to investigate Precision Irrigation and Nutrient Management for Nursery, Greenhouse and Green Roof Systems, using Wireless Sensor Networks. This grant, combined with an additional $5.16M in matching funding from various sources will bring together a multidisciplinary group of engineers, plant scientists, economists and extension specialists from five universities and two commercial companies to develop the next generation of tools, to precisely monitor plant water use and allow for better control of irrigation water applications and increase the efficiency of water and nutrient use by commercial growers.
Dr. John Lea-Cox from the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland is leading the project, together with Dr. George Kantor at the Robotics Institute - Carnegie Mellon University, Dr. William Bauerle at Colorado State University, Dr. Marc van Iersel at the University of Georgia, Dr. Taryn Bauerle at Cornell University, Dr. Dennis King at the University of Maryland, Center for Environmental Science, Decagon Devices, Inc. in Pullman, WA and Antir Software in Jarrettsville, MD.
The research is tightly integrated with sensor networks in a number of commercial nurseries and greenhouses throughout the US, and will take advantage of the expertise of our grower partners and advisory board members, to ensure rapid progress towards implementation of the engineering and science into practice. Full details of the project goals, the university teams and the commercial partners can be found at http://www.smart-farms.net
We are very excited about this news as this grant will open up unlimited opportunities for our faculty, students, and staff, and will provide the green industry with environmentally-sound ground-breaking new technology, to improve the productivity and profitability of this important sector of agriculture.
We are also excited about the opportunity for collaborative research between our department, college, and the various universities and commercial partners in the project.
For more information, please contact Dr. John Lea-Cox, Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture at jlc@umd.edu or 301-405-4323.
Thank you.
