Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The Green Industry (greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture) holds a significant position in Virginia as the largest plant industry in terms of agricultural cash receipts (worth $466 million in 2021) while also demonstrating consistent growth. Virginia Tech's Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station and the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service play a crucial role in directly serving the green industry through a collaborative effort with stakeholders, many of which are small business and minority business owners, and Virginia State University, one of Virginia's historically black colleges and universities.Greenhouses are integral to controlled environment agriculture (CEA), which optimizes crop production by manipulating environmental conditions needed for crop growth. This intensive control over plant growth creates systems with improved resource-use efficiencies and ultimately improved sustainability. We believe the expansion of CEA industry and the extension program that serves it offers a direct means to meet the USDA's Strategic Goals 1 and 2 (Combat climate change to support America's working lands, natural resources, and communities and Ensure America's agricultural system is equitable, resilient, and prosperous). Additionally, CEA provides a means to grow crops closer to consumers to help alleviate food deserts by increasing the availability of fresh and more nutritious foods . Thus, we also believe CEA has the potential to directly meet Strategic Goal 4 as well (Provide all Americans safe, nutritious food). Collectively, the qualities that make CEA unique align well with the USDA Strategic Goals.The well-established greenhouse-based CEA industry plays a crucial role in meeting growing food needs as an intermediate between field systems that produce food cheaply, but far away from consumers, and energy-intensive indoor farms growing food close to consumers. The greenhouse industry is relatively mature and well established in Virginia and globally. The historical prevalence of greenhouses exemplifies its robustness, strong market niche, adaptability, and capability to increase food security. However, greenhouse growers and businesses continue to face evolving challenges, such as labor shortages, material shortages, biotic pressures, cultural practices, and fluctuating energy prices. To address the challenges faced by greenhouse growers, extension services play a crucial role in providing support. The Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station and the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service are particularly valuable in this regard, thanks to its extensive and diverse expertise among faculty members. Collaborating with universities for research partnerships proves highly advantageous for the greenhouse industry as a whole. Extension partnerships serve as a means to impartially disseminate research-based information through state extension services at no cost to commercial growers within and outside Virginia. By promoting the unbiased and equitable distribution of research-based information within the proposed greenhouse, we will ultimately contribute to the fulfillment of USDA's Strategic Goal 3: fostering an equitable and competitive marketplace for all agricultural producers. This impact extends to the local, state, and national levels.Despite the necessity to support this important industry in Virginia, the current capabilities of the HRAREC hinder conducting research with cutting-edge technologies and entirely supporting CEA industry stakeholders. To fully leverage the opportunities presented by the expanding CEA sector, addressing the inadequate capabilities of the HRAREC is essential. Realizing this, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station at Virginia Tech is prepared to meet the cost-sharing requirement in full. By investing in modern infrastructure and research facilities, the HRAREC can foster innovation, collaboration, and the adoption of advanced technologies needed to keep agricultural industries economically competitive. This investment will empower researchers, industry professionals, students, and growers to explore and implement cutting-edge solutions to evolving problems.Expanding the capabilities of the HRAREC facilities increases the capacity for collaborative research among faculty members beyond the CEA sector. Notably, the greenhouse industry in Virginia closely collaborates with the nursery industry. Because the HRAREC is located away from Virginia Tech's main campus, student recruitment primarily occurs in the Hampton Roads Area. This area boasts a diverse student population, including students from the private institution of Virginia Wesleyan University to the historically black universities of Hampton University and Norfolk State University. Consequently, this offers a means to recruit and engage students who reflect the true demographics of America, promoting diversity and inclusion within the agricultural industry. By fostering partnerships with local educational institutions, HRAREC expands its ability to reach the broad spectrum of talents and perspectives, strengthening its commitment to diversity and inclusion within the agricultural industry.In conclusion, by addressing the limitations of the HRAREC and investing in modern research facilities, Virginia can fully embrace the opportunities within the expanding CEA sector. This will not only support the greenhouse and nursery industries but also promote collaborative research, student engagement, diversity, and innovation. Ultimately, it will lead to a more sustainable and successful agricultural sector in Virginia.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
40%
Applied
50%
Developmental
10%
Goals / Objectives
The establishment of a new research greenhouse will greatly enhance the research capacity of the Greenhouse Production Specialist and other faculty at the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center (HRAREC), putting their work more in alignment with the strategic goals of Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). An updated greenhouse will provide expanded shared space for faculty, enabling the new greenhouse production position to have increased research capacity throughout the year. With more capable utility, precise environmental control within the greenhouse will enable a broader range of applied and basic research, driving excellence in research and discovery. Moreover, the presence of a modern greenhouse will aid in attracting students who desire to work in the greenhouse industry by providing them valuable hands-on experience, aligning with CALS' goals of student recruitment and development. The new greenhouse can also serve as a testbed for emerging technologies, supporting Virginia Tech's Center for Advanced Innovation in Agriculture (CAIA).CAIA is dedicated to advancing automated technologies and for allowing the exploration of advanced greenhouse glazing materials. Furthermore, the proposed greenhouse will provide increased capacity to effectively address greenhouse industry issues, contributing to excellence in extension and outreach. In summary, the establishment of a new research greenhouse aligns with CALS' strategic goals and is instrumental to our long-term goals to enhance research capabilities, foster student development, promote technological innovation, and strengthen extension and outreach efforts.In addition to its fundamental role in greenhouse research, a modern research greenhouse holds the potential for significant and enduring impacts on various other research areas, including nursery production, plant pathology, entomology, and small-fruit production. The proposed greenhouse, consisting of three independent sections as detailed in the Project Planning and Activities section, offers numerous advantages. Each section can support different research projects, serving as a quarantine zone for conducting sensitive work involving plant diseases and invasive pests. Furthermore, greenhouse research is not conducted in isolation, and a state-of-the-art facility like this greatly enhances opportunities for collaborations and facilitates the pursuit of larger grants with multidisciplinary scopes. Lastly, greenhouses are commonly used for growing transplants such as for strawberry and vegetable production, and there is currently a strong interest in conducting research on propagation within greenhouses for subsequent field planting. This presents a unique collaborative effort between faculty that would be unattainable without the expanded capacity and capability provided by a new research greenhouse.The HRAREC is a versatile facility that accommodates numerous faculty members who actively contribute to research, teaching, and extension activities. With the introduction of the new greenhouse, time allocation will be divided into three key areas: 70% for research, allowing for comprehensive exploration and experimentation; 15% for teaching, facilitating hands-on learning experiences; and 15% for extension, supporting outreach efforts and knowledge dissemination. This well-balanced distribution ensures that the greenhouse effectively serves the diverse needs of faculty members, enabling impactful research, effective teaching, and valuable engagement with the broader community.
Project Methods
Once funding is finalized, contractors will be contacted to submit bids to build the structure. Station staff will assist with the design and installation of the new greenhouse. Once the structure iscompleted, station faculty will develop and submit grant proposals to funding agencies to conduct research on new technologies and methods of indoor crop production. Station faculty will conduct trainings for undergraduate and graduate students in the structure as well as supervise graduate research. Station faculty will work with local extension agents on educational programs, and will develop in-service training programs for extension agents across the state. Station faculty will also conduct grower meetings at the station to demonstrate new technologies for producers.