|
|
|
|
News
|
|
|
|
Oregon nursery industry to benefit from research grants
|
|
|
1/26/2011
|
|
Article Content Suggested lead
Research funds targeted for Oregon's number one agricultural commodity are helping the nursery industry solve production problems. This year's grant recipients have now been announced:
Entire audio file
Audio 01
Oregon's greenhouse and nursery industry is serious about taking care of problems through research. That's why part of the license fees paid by growers to the Oregon Department of Agriculture fund a research grant program that helps in a variety of ways, according to ODA's Gary McAninch (MACK-an-inch):
MC ANINCH: "Typically, it's problems like pest and disease issues or plant nutrient issues or how to make the growing of nursery stock more efficient." :10
audio file
Audio 02
For 2011, there are nine projects being funded by a nearly 180-thousand dollar pot of money. Given the problems facing the nursery industry the past couple of years due to the recession, the investment in research is even more important:
MC ANINCH: "The downturn in the housing market had a direct impact on the nursery industry and the amount of nursery stock being sold. So we've had less plants being sold out of Oregon the past couple of years. So you've got to produce a better, high quality plant and compete in a marketplace that's got a lot of growers now with a lot of plants." :18
audio file
This year's projects range from developing new plant varieties that meet consumer demand to testing a small unmanned aircraft equipped with a digital camera that collects inventory data on nursery property, reducing the need for a person to painstakingly collect data from the ground. In Salem, I"m Bruce Pokarney.
Additional audio: Audio 03
MC ANINCH says one of the more interesting funded projects involves testing a small unmanned aircraft to help with inventory work on nursery operations:
"It's a small hovering craft with a remote digital camera. It will transmit a photo back to a computer and a software package, and it analyzes what it's seeing. It can tell you how many plants of a particular variety you've got on your lot, so you don't have to go out and count them individually." :18
audio file
Additional audio: Audio 04
MC ANINCH says this year, as well as in the past, research grants often go to developing new varieties and cultivars, as buyers look for the newest products and growers try to differentiate their products in the marketplace:
"A plant that maybe has superior fall color or plants that maybe are resistant to certain diseases." :08
audio file
Full story
http://oregon.gov/ODA/news/110126nursery_grants.shtml |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|