Clemson gets $50,000 USDA grant

A Clemson University horticulture researcher was awarded one of 29 USDA grants across 19 states to develop and share science-based tools to address the needs of America’s specialty crop industry.
 
Sarah White, assistant professor and nursery extension specialist in the newly formed School of Agricultural, Forest and Environmental Sciences in the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences, received $50,000 to direct a planning grant to develop industry-driven research priorities related to irrigation runoff handling, containment and remediation for ornamental crop production.
 
The state's ornamental horticulture, floriculture, nursery and turfgrass industry accounts for more than $300 million in annual receipts and ranks as South Carolina's second-largest agricultural industry, according to state data. Access to high-quality water sources is increasingly limited for irrigating these economically significant crops. Given the production, environmental and economic issues associated with recycled water use, it is critical to develop sustainable runoff containment and remediation technologies, and alternative water sources.
 
White and co-investigators from five other universities ultimately plan to benefit growers with containment and treatment technology for recycling water, communities by reducing competition for high-quality water resources, and the environment by reducing runoff of agrichemicals from production wastewater.