USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has announced the eight award recipients who will share more than $2 million in Alfalfa and Forage Research Program (AFRP) funding to study an array of topics affecting the alfalfa industry. Now in its fourth year of funding, the AFRP was created to support integrated, collaborative research and technology transfer to improve the efficiency and sustainability of alfalfa forage and seed production systems. It encourages projects that establish multi-disciplinary networks to address priority national or regional science needs of the alfalfa industry. The University of California received two of the awards, for $290,000 and for $253,825. The other lead organizations receiving funding are: The University of Georgia, Notre Dame, the University of Maryland, Washington State University, the University of Wisconsin and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. AFRP funds are collaborative in nature, meaning each project submission must include a collaboration among organizations in at least three states as a requirement of funding. Thus, researchers from 19 states will share in this funding. “The AFRP continues to enhance alfalfa production all over the country,” said Beth Nelson, president of the National Alfalfa and Forage Alliance. “Its scope and reach become more impressive every year.” Click here to see a list of the projects being financed.
#30
