Award Data

With the advent of precision agriculture, the way we farm is changing. Technologies exist to add precision to all aspects of the farm. Through "mapping the farm," precision management strategies can be implemented such as: targeted herbicide application, targeted soil management, improved yield predictions, improved management of water, and other farm resources. These practices all require informa ...

Over the past two decades, Multispectral Imaging (MSI) and Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) technologies have been fielded as rapid, non-destructive quality and safety inspection systems for a vast range of food products. Specifically, MSI and HSI systems enable the evaluation of overall food quality via classification and grading, defect and disease detection as well as visualization of chemical distr ...

Pollinators, typically honey bees, are critical for marketable yields of around 90 crops, including apples, blueberries, cucumbers and almonds. Honey bees, however, have been under considerable pressure from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), leading to unprecedented and unsustainable colony losses. Pesticide exposure, especially neonicotinoids in seed coating, is one key stressor causing the general ...

Shellfish aquaculture in the United States has been expanding rapidly; providing jobs, promoting local economies, and yielding sustainable protein sources for a continuously growing human population. However, industry growth is restricted due to several issues which all directly relate to being able to get the food (microalgae) to the shellfish in an efficient manner. The issue is not that there i ...

Compact Membrane Systems (CMS) proposes to employ membrane systems for pressure-driven separation of water from black liquor to replace the first two stages of existing multiple-effect evaporators. This is a promising approach to considerably reduce the steam energy required for concentration. Membrane materials must withstand high temperature, high salinity and high pH conditions. Fouling of the ...

In this Phase 1 SBIR proposal, Vuronyx Technologies will develop biobased isosorbide epoxy precursors as replacement to Bisphenol-A epoxy precursors used currently in "can coatings" for food and beverages.Canning of foods and beverages in tin-plated steel or aluminum is extensively used for food preservation and storage because of low material and productions costs and durability of the containers ...

This innovative research and development project addresses one of the most important issues in our society: How to provide healthful food to our native population through efficient and sustainable use of our domestic resources. Fish raised through aquaculture can meet the rapidly growing demand for seafood while improving diets. Aquaculture is the fastest growing sector of the world's food pro ...

Livestock manure streams constitute a primary source of nutrients leading to watershed eutrophication, and nutrient mitigation is a major problem for the agricultural industry. Many dairies have anaerobic digesters (ADs) that reduce manure volumes and generate methane for energy. But the nutrients remaining in the wastewater are emitted to the environment after release from ADs. Midwestern BioAg ( ...

The use of recycled water has never been more important than it is today, especially with California and the Western United States experiencing the worst drought in 500 years.To address the severe and persistent shortage of water,growers in California are increasingly looking to recycled water as a way to consistently meet their irrigation demands. The main challenge for water reuse in agriculture ...

A new reactor technology is being developed that can process agricultural wastewaters economically while also creating a marketable bioproduct. The combined syngeries of efficiently processing wastewater while also creating a biofuel product for resale helps to economically treat wastewater with a positive energy balance.