Dec 17, 2020University of Wisconsin gets several potato-focused grants
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) announced 19 projects have been selected to receive $1,186,278 in Specialty Crop Block Grant funding.
Grants are awarded to projects intended to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crop industries through research, education or market development. Recipients are required to provide 25% of the grant funds as a matching contribution.
Several of the funded projects will go to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for research on improving potato quality and production. They include:
- Develop aphid flight phenology models to limit the spread of Potato virus Y, a non-persistently transmitted viral pathogen of seed potatoes.
- Mitigate threats posed by emerging black leg and soft rot pathogens to seed potatoes.
- Perform a storage study and conduct on-farm surveys to explore the use of thermal imaging to manage potato post-harvest storage and provide strategies to maintain storage quality.
- Conduct vegetable variety trials in field and high tunnel greenhouses to improve vegetable production, profitability, and quality in northern Wisconsin.
A full list of Wisconsin grants can be found here.
