Aug 28, 2023Potato-focused projects part of nearly $73 million in USDA funding
Twenty projects benefiting the U.S. potato industry are part of $72.9 million in USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant Program investments.
The potato-focused grants, announced last week, total $2.6 million for fiscal year 2023, according to a news release. The new round of funding, designed to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crop products and create new market opportunities for U.S. specialty crop producers, marks $1 billion in program investment since 2006, according to the release.
Potato-focused projects include:
- A joint project between the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee and Colorado State University to improve market relations with Mexico by developing pre-shipment screening to detect the presence of potato mop-top virus in exports.
- A project by the Michigan Potato Industry Commission to provide nutritional education on how to best utilize Michigan-produced potatoes to food-insecure and bilingual audiences across the state.
- An Oregon State University project to develop new products for sprout inhibition or suppression in potatoes as alternatives to currently used chemical chlorpropham, now banned in the European Union.
- A Washington State University project to expand the utility of cellulose nanofibers as protectants against potato diseases.
- A University of Idaho project to develop tools for growers to effectively manage potato early die complex based on soil testing.
A full list of potato-related projects and funding is available here.
