News Stories - Page 14

A new national grant program administered by the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program will pump more than $10.2 million into research to address food loss and waste in the region. Supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the SARE Community Foods Project Food Loss and Waste Training and Technical Assistance Grants Program is seeking grant proposals from applicants working in the public sector on food loss and waste prevention.

Three years after its debut, the Georgia Green Landscape Stewards program is expanding throughout the state with the assistance of University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener volunteers. Using a points-based system, the program has certified more than 200 private properties, public spaces and pollinator gardens in 47 counties as Georgia Green Landscapes, with new applications coming in every month.

Visual beauty meets functional research at the University of Georgia Trial Gardens. Located on South Campus, the gardens are home to seeds and plants from nearly every plant breeding company worldwide, grown to service UGA research, teaching and new crop introduction. “The Trial Gardens are the premier campus test site in the southeast for the evaluation of commercial bedding plants and perennials,” said John Ruter, the Trial Gardens director and Allan M. Armitage Professor in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

After nearly a decade of research trials, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences turfgrass breeder Brian Schwartz and a dedicated team of colleagues and industry partners released a cutting-edge bermudagrass variety called ‘Tif3D’ earlier this year. ‘Tif3D’ is a specialty grass developed specifically for putting greens and boasts the unparalleled performance and playability putting greens require, said Schwartz, a professor in the CAES Department of Crop and Soil Sciences.

With a climbing global population that continues to grow since surpassing 8 billion in 2022, steadily rising food prices, changing consumer preferences and growing interest in more sustainable production methods, the challenges to the world’s food systems continue to intensify. World-renowned food processing and engineering faculty in the University of Georgia Department of Food Science and Technology are training and inspiring the next generation of food scientists to blaze trails in their research and answer the questions the future of food will bring. 

Looking for great garden inspiration that you can implement at home? Consider visiting a University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener demonstration garden during Open Garden Days throughout the month of June. The Georgia Master Gardener Extension Volunteer program has created a comprehensive garden guide, including a 2024 garden passport, to help visitors plan garden stops around the state.

Whether you are a seasoned gardener or a novice, having a home garden can be an enriching experience. But starting from scratch may seem like a daunting endeavor. To help you embark on this journey, we've compiled a general guide, drawing insights from University of Georgia Cooperative Extension publications and Clarke County Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent Laura Ney on the most important steps for establishing a garden.

The University of Georgia is launching the Value-Addition Institute for Business Expansion, or VIBE, a new center for rural food business assistance and resources headed by professors from the Department of Food Science and Technology in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the Department of Nutritional Sciences in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. VIBE is funded by a $1.5 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Innovation Center.

Two doctoral students and two master’s students in the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences were honored with awards for outstanding research after placing in the 2024 E. Broadus Browne Research Competition. In recognition of former Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station Director Edmund Broadus Browne, the annual competition highlights some of the best graduate research from departments within the college and challenges contestants with an oral presentation.