Title: | Planning for a Phase II SCRI grant proposal on ‘Utilization and Versatility of Biodegradable Agricultural Materials in Specialty Crop Production’ | |
| CSANR Project 116 | Status: ongoing | |
| Annual Entries: | PL2012:116 (2012) | |
| PI(s): |
Manuel Garcia-Perez Rich Koenig | |
| Progress Reports: | (2012) http://www.tfrec.wsu.edu/pdfs/P2801.pdf | |
| Project Summary: | The Phase II SCRI project would address important questions raised by the first project, including: opportunities for new feedstocks and formulations for mulches; biodegradability of materials in soil and other environments; versatility for diverse uses in agriculture (annual/perennial crops, mulches, row covers, disease and pest mitigation); and enhanced disposal in soil, composting, and anaerobic digestion systems. These topic areas are the direct result of discoveries and/or questions raised by the first project, and align well with the CSANR priority area ‘Biologically intensive and organic approaches to sustainable management - mulches can reduce pesticide use and biodegradable materials resolve important disposal problems and environmental pollution; and, ‘Innovation and diversification’ – biodegradable materials are innovative, and present many new and creative opportunities for expanded applications in agriculture. The purpose of this request is to assemble a new team of PIs in order to define the scope and research questions for a new project and begin planning and work assignments for a 2012 proposal submission. Based on our previous experience in 2009, SCRI proposals take considerable preparation, time, effort, and coordination to assemble, and an initial face-to-face meeting among potential key participants is necessary to initiate a new project successfully. | |
