Award Data

Commercial producers of nursery crops, plant seed, and food crops all require assurance of healthy planting stock. To address this need, laboratories, institutions and agencies, worldwide, use a variety of methods to examine plant materials and demonstrate that seeds, cuttings, and plants test free of pathogens. Such tests provide crops a passport to travel and give the grower confidence that a he ...

While bacteria cause fewer plant diseases than fungi and viruses, they do cause serious economic damages to both US and worldwide agriculture. Citrus canker caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis has resulted in the destruction of over 20 million trees in Florida, while fire blight caused by Erwinia amylovora costs exceed $100 million per year in the United States alone, and recent epidemics have cost o ...

The long term goal of this project is to eliminate insect pests from the US food and feed supply with a sensor device, minimize exposure of humans and animals to residual chemicals or insecticides, and reduce financial losses due to grain damage. The lesser grain borer (LGB) is a devastating, long-lived pest of stored wheat, corn and other cereal grains in the US and other parts of the world. Adul ...

Shading vegetables and fruits can reduce temperatures resulting in improved fruit set, increase fruit size and quality, and reduce water consumption. Shading materials for reducing light intensity or transmission have been used extensively in the nursery industry as well as with large commercial growers of high value fruits and vegetables for many years. The physiological processes of plants have ...

Hundreds of existing wind power projects have transformed communities by creating jobs, improving economic development, and reducing environmental pollution. However, 85 percent of rural communities cannot utilize wind power today due to community concerns or poor wind resources at ground level that make projects uneconomical. Altaeros Energies is developing an airborne wind turbine that adapts pr ...

The Formosan subterranean termite (Coptotermes formosanus, FST), an exotic, cryptic pest, causes about $1 billion damage in the US annually (Lax and Osbrink). Unlike native species, this aggressive termite attacks living trees, potentially threatening southern forests and the urban/forest interface. Potential forest damage is twofold: direct damage or death to trees and indirect disruption or disp ...

Algae are one of the most, if not the most, productive biomass crops known and have a photosynthetic efficiency almost twice that of the most productive terrestrial crop, sugarcane. However, algae are not without disadvantages relative to terrestrial crops, and do require their own novel technical solutions. Characteristically, microalgae are aquatic, very small (1 to 10 micron diameter), very dil ...

The Illinois Soybean Association and the USDA initiated and supported the original research project that produced the prototype Global Food in 3?D and underlies the proposed new product, Global Feed in 3?D. The expected user groups were small and mid?sized farmer leaders and allied analysts and stakeholders as a result of the research's original design and goals. The research outcome of this ...

This project addresses priority areas of 1) Animal Productivity (in both conventional and alternative production systems), 2) Animal Health and Well-Being, and 3) Food Safety and Environmental Mitigation, as described in the NIFA Program Announcement for Phase I SBIR applications. 1) Productivity: Intramammary infection (a.k.a., mastitis) is the largest attributable cause of lost productivity, dis ...

The "KickinKitchen.TV" project combines: technology, education and research strategies to address the USDA challenge area of improving nutritional health and reducing childhood obesity. This study involves the following partners: racially diverse, urban public schools, KidsCOOK Productions, an independent production company committed to addressing childhood obesity risk through its digital educati ...