The overall goal of the cooperative agricultural research center is to conduct agricultural research projects that will help solve everyday problems & issues

Planned research projects are designed to promote quality of life, address environmental management, climate change, food security, sustainable livestock management & crop production. Given the targeted audience that encompasses various ethnic groups, religions, cultural, & socioeconomic backgrounds, the outreach methods used to address the identified needs are client-focused & culturally sensitive. The combined network of researchers, specialists, technicians & other staff will enable collaborative projects to support the following critical issues for texans: environmental management: focus on advancing scientific understanding & providing education & knowledge in managing natural resources & environmental systems. This broad coverage includes water conservation & protection, water quantity & quality, soil health/management, climate variability/extremes, stormwater & groundwater management, best management practices, smart agriculture & agricultural techniques, environmental awareness, wildlife management, sustainable forest management, best horticultural practices, soil fertility for sustained & consistent yields of high quality. Food safety & education: research will be conducted on developing nutritious value-added food products from goat milk, goat meat, & specialty fruits & vegetables produced on the pvamu farm. The safety of these foods from farm to table will be emphasized, including production, post-harvest storage, processing, distribution, & consumer handling & preparation. Microbial analyses will include traditional plate counting methods & molecular methods using DNA & RNA. Food security in texas communities: compared to the national average, texas ranked among the highest food insecurity rates in the US. Research will focus on the post-harvest storage & conversion of commodities to safe, nutritious, affordable, & culturally relevant foods to communities. Collaboration with researchers in plant & animal sciences will be emphasized & fostered. Sustainable livestock management: in the large & small ruminant animal industry, livestock production, productivity, & management systems continue to grow in texas. The culmination of these issues will focus on improving productivity with a variety of agricultural animals. Focus will be on improving livestock management, enhancing technologies & practices that increase livestock productivity, & conducting multiple levels of research investigating methods to increase the health & productivity of livestock through optimizing nutrition & reproduction at the genetic level to studying all aspects of food animal production. Crop production & utilization: discovering new knowledge about genetics, growth, & disease resistance of field, grain, fruit, & vegetable crops & provide agronomic information on hybrids & variety. This includes high-value, low-volume specialty crop production & major crops. Research will focus on under-utilized fruits & vegetables, medicinal plants, legumes, & root crops & actively investigate corn, soybean, wheat, forage, oats & alfalfa. By 2023, carc will achieve resiliency through research on the demonstration farm with agronomic crops, food, fiber, & ecological systems; incorporate experiential education on the farm; & renovate new greenhouse research space & poultry operation & create collaborations among federal, state, & local entities will engage in new research for emerging specialty agronomic crops, emergency management, & disaster education to county agents. By 2025, carc will address issues related to nutrition, food safety/quality, food security/insecurity, & the related impacts on quality of life & examine the efficacy of producing high-value, low-volume medicinal & nutritional products.