Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the demand for local, fresh, and…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the demand for local, fresh, and nutritious fruits and vegetables has been rapidly increasing in urban areas, boosting the adoption and expansion of controlled-environment agriculture. Indoor and greenhouse food production systems use water-saving hydroponic techniques to provide plants with water and nutrients. Our multi-institutional team proposes a research- and education-integrated project to improve controlled-environment hydroponic crop production in the U.S. As previous hydroponics research has mostly focused on fertilization and environmental control for lettuce, we aim to investigate additional horticultural factors with potential to increase crop yield, quality attributes, and resource use efficiency of less studied, but commercially valuable, leafy greens and fruiting crops (e.g., spinach, arugula, pepper, and strawberry). Our comprehensive approach will optimize key horticultural factors, including temperature and dissolved oxygen of hydroponic nutrient solutions, biostimulants, and light regulation of physiological disorders and water-borne plant diseases. Additionally, we have identified a critical industry-wide need to enhance higher education in the management of hydroponic systems. Our collaborative efforts will generate and assess new open-access teaching materials and activities available to higher-education instructors, with the objective of promoting higher levels of learning to prepare well-trained graduates for careers in the burgeoning controlled-environment agriculture industry. The outcomes of our proposed project will include increased crop health and production, reduced use of fertilizers and energy, and enhanced student learning for higher education, all of which will support sustainable indoor and greenhouse hydroponic food production systems in urban areas.