Labor, Efficiency, Automation, and Production: LEAP Nursery Crops Towards Sustainability
Project award no. 2024-51181-43291U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI).
Dr. Margarita Velandia is leading the socioeconomics team, which is formed by Drs. Alicia Rihn and Le Chen, of a $9.8 million project funded by the USDA NIFA SCRI, to study ways to use automation and robotics to address the labor shortage in the nursery crops industry. The AREC team is responsible for assessing the economic feasibility of adopting various mechanical aids (e.g., fertilizer dispensers, automatic irrigation control systems, herbicide applicators) and automated technologies. This team will also evaluate the impact of technology adoption on employee productivity, retention, health, and satisfaction.
The LEAP project is led by Anthony LeBude, an Extension Specialist at N.C. State University, including UTIA (Dr. Amy Fulcher is the LEAD at UTIA), Tennessee State University, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Georgia, the University of Florida, Oregon State University, Texas A&M University, and the USDA-ARS.
Find more information about this project in USDA NIFA’s report. You can also visit the project’s Facebook page for project updates.
Evaluation of Soil Solarization as a Sustainable Management Method for Pests, Pathogens, and Weeds in Southeastern High Tunnels
Southern SARE LS23-384
Dr. Margarita Velandia is leading the economic analysis of soil solarization in high tunnels (HTs). Soil solarization is a nonchemical strategy that has been shown to effectively manage soilborne diseases, plant-parasitic nematodes, and weeds in HTs. It uses passive solar heating of irrigated soil under a transparent plastic tarp to achieve soil temperatures detrimental to soilborne pests, pathogens, and weed seeds.
Dr. Rachel Rudolph, an associate professor in the Department of Horticulture at the University of Kentucky, leads this project. Dr. Annette Wszelaki is leading this project at UTIA. You can find more information about this project in SARE’s project report.
A recent article published in HortTechnology, led by Dr. Velandia, offers insights into production challenges faced by and effective management strategies used by Kentucky high tunnel vegetable growers.
Meet the Researchers
