2009 PRESS RELEASES
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October 15, 2009
VIRGINIA AWARDS SPECIALTY CROP BLOCK GRANTS
Contact: Elaine J. Lidholm, 804.786.7686
Todd P. Haymore, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), has announced funding for agriculture-related projects which will promote and enhance the competitiveness of Virginia’s specialty crops. The projects resulted from the competitive grant process established by the VDACS Division of Marketing for USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Specialty Crop Block Grant funds.
The Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 authorized the USDA to provide funds to the states to promote specialty crops including fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits and nursery crops. When considering grants for the USDA Specialty Crop Program, VDACS gave priority to projects that included the following activities: assisting farmers in transitioning into specialty, high-value agricultural initiatives that address the eligible specialty crops; increasing net farm income through high-value or value-added enterprises; finding new ways to market or to add value to specialty agricultural products; developing pilot and demonstration programs in specialty agriculture that have the potential for transferability within rural Virginia.
Commissioner Haymore commented, “This year the U.S. Congress increased the funding for specialty crop grants by almost fourfold, and that meant that Virginia received more than $450,000 in funding. In the last grant round, we only received $123,000 to distribute to our producers and researchers. As a result, we have been able to award additional grants for a wide variety of research projects. I congratulate these organizations for advancing ideas that will help growers add value and enhance market opportunities across Virginia.”
VDACS is awarding grants totaling $453,000, including these projects:
- Monitoring Water Quality to meet Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Certification, Southwest Virginia Agricultural Association
- Sustainable Snap Beans Nitrogen Fertilization, Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center (AREC)
- Producing and Marketing New Specialty Crops for Virginia, Southwest Virginia Farmers’ Market
- Production and Marketing of High Tunnel Grown Raspberries in Virginia, Virginia State University
- Biofumigation and Herbicides for Use in Pumpkin Production, Virginia Pumpkin Growers Association
- Off-season and Ready-to-Prepare Product Blends, Appalachian Sustainable Development
- Virginia Wine Quality Assurance Program, Virginia Wineries Association
- Grafting Tomatoes to Control Soil-borne Diseases in Open Field Production, Virginia Tech
- Profitable Greenhouse Production of Local Produce, Eastern Shore AREC
- Promotion of Native Plant Production and Sales in Virginia, Virginia Tech
- Building Capacity of Community Food System, Lynchburg Grows
- Mt. Rogers Christmas Tree Growers Association Seed Orchard, Mt. Rogers Christmas Tree Growers Association
- Enhancing Specialty Crop Production and Marketing, Northern Neck Vegetable Growers Association
- Eastern Shore Ag Conference and Trade Show, Virginia Association of Potato and Vegetable Growers