Award Data

Unique challenges face agriculture diagnostics, dictated by the small profit margins in crop production and the need for rapid, reliable assay information under highly variable environmental conditions. The need to identify genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has recently become acute due to new legislation, public demands, global transport of plants, and commercial processing of food and fiber. ...

The proposed work will demonstrate the feasibility of culturing foodfish in Coal Bed Methane (CBM) discharge water; water is always a byproduct of methane recovery. A major restriction to the growth of the aquaculture industry, nationwide and worldwide, is the availability of constant temperature, consistently high quality water. A potentially major source of this quality of groundwater could be m ...

Two-cycle engines historically are the preferred choice among light industrial and recreational equipment manufacturers. These engines are also excessively dirty due to design elements that haven't changed in over 60 years. Pending legislation aimed at reducing emissions from these engines has put current two- cycle technology in jeopardy. Implementation of patented induction and combustion proces ...

A major concern for coal-fired power plants throughout the nation is disposal of bottom ash. This by- product of coal combustion is produced in large quantities and disposal is costly. Presently bottom ash is disposed of in landfills throughout the nation. Landfilling is not an efficient and environmentally feasible method of disposal. Phase I - Laboratory research utilizing bottom ash as a fine a ...

The global shrimp industry (wild and farm raised) is currently valued at over $26 billion, and is suffering losses of billions of dollars annually because of disease. Unlike other food animal commodities, the shrimp culture industry is unable to protect their crop through vaccination due to a lack of a sophisticated immune system in shrimp. Therefore, the prevention of these devastating financial ...

More than 200 million pounds of blueberries are sorted annually based upon visual observation by men and women on inspection lines or with equipment that observes blueberry color. As domestic hand labor becomes more expensive, the industry continues to move towards mechanized sorting processes using less than adequate sorting technologies. We propose a novel, commercially viable, low-cost classifi ...

The presence of human pathogens in uncooked sprouts has required health advisories by government agencies. Various chemical and physical processes for seed decontamination are under evaluation. The electron beam fluidized bed process developed by EPS under USDA grants has been shown to be an effective biocidal agent and is well suited to the disinfection of sprout seeds. Any commercially useful pr ...

The proposed research will entail efforts to cultivate Osha (Ligusticum porteri), a popular native medicinal herb, for the purpose of developing a new commercial crop for Wyoming growers. Presently the only source for this plant are wild populations found at high elevations in the Rocky Mountains of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Montana. Due to high demand for the mature root, ...

In the production of rice crops, there is a considerable amount of biowaste generated in the forms of hulls and straw. Hundreds of millions of tons of rice hulls are generated annually. Rice hulls have been utilized as biofuels and as a supplement in animal feed. However, the market for hulls is a small portion of the hulls generated, and this results in landfilling the excess. Rice hull ash gener ...

This project will enhance the competitiveness of the U.S. aquaculture industry by providing a cost- effective means of increasing the rate of genetic improvement of hybrid striped bass. We will compare the reproductive, hatchery and grow-out performance of selectively bred hybrid striped bass and backcross hybrid striped bass of common genetic origin. We will also benchmark our findings via compar ...