This exponential growth coupled with the unique food and culinary traditions generatessignificant demand for traditional or less common fruits and vegetables in kentucky.currently this demand is…

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Kentucky State University $600,005 on February 1, 2026, under the 1890 Institution Capacity Building Grants program (CFDA 10.216) to conduct integrated research, teaching, and extension work on traditional and less common vegetable production in Kentucky through January 31, 2029.

The award funds Kentucky State University to identify the top five desired traditional or less common vegetables based on their scope and marketing potential in Kentucky; develop year-round production and management recommendations tailored to Kentucky's soils and environment; disseminate technical production and marketing knowledge through new extension curricula; and provide hands-on experiential learning and critical thinking experiences to students. Research results will be disseminated through workshops, conferences, classroom teaching, field visits, and YouTube videos targeting extension agents, small-scale growers, and students. This work addresses the current opportunity for Kentucky growers to locally produce vegetables that traditionally are sourced from Florida, thereby supporting local agriculture and community health.

Work is performed in Frankfort, Kentucky.

This exponential growth coupled with the unique food and culinary traditions generatessignificant demand for traditional or less common fruits and vegetables in kentucky.currently this demand is primarily fulfilled from production in florida, however, there is anopportunity for growers in kentucky to locally produce these vegetables and meet thedemand. This integrated research teaching and extension proposal aims to strengthen thecapacity of kentucky state university and address the needs of growers in exploring theproduction and marketing of traditional or less common vegetables. The proposalobjectives are to: 1) identify the top five desired traditional or less common vegetablesbased on their scope and marketing potential in kentucky; 2) develop year-roundproduction and management recommendations for kentucky's soils and environment; 3)disseminate technical production and marketing knowledge to audience through thedevelopment of new extension curriculums; and 4) provide hands-on experiential learningand critical thinking experiences to students. Research results on traditional or lesscommon vegetable production will be disseminated at workshops conferences classroomteaching experiential learning opportunities field visits and youtube videos and forstudents, extension agents and small-scale growers. This comprehensive approach willenhance the access of locally produced fresh vegetables to consumers thereby supportinglocal agriculture and community health.