This three-year, $299,958 Project Grant from the Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Capacity Building for Non-Land Grant Colleges of Agriculture program will support collaborative education and research activities between Texas A&M University-Commerce and Texas A&M AgriLife Research. The grant aims to strengthen the university's new Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Agriculture program and address critical needs in applied research on controlled environment hydroponic production systems. Specific projects will develop optimum practices for year-round lettuce production and evaluate vegetable grafting techniques for hydroponic tomato production in protected structures. The university will enhance its sustainable agriculture curriculum with hands-on basic research projects and experiential learning courses to cultivate professionals skilled in hydroponic systems. Advancing sustainable urban vegetable production and training a new generation of career-ready agricultural professionals with research experience directly supports the goals of the NIFA NLGCA program to build non-land grant institution capacity in agriculture, renewable resources, and related disciplines.
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