Grants to Build Capacity of A&T School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences

For Immediate Release
January 7, 2002

Greensboro, NC: Four members of the North Carolina A&T School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences faculty have received funding from USDA's 1890 Institution Teaching and Research Capacity Building Grants Program.

Projects led by Drs. Terrence Thomas, Chung W. Seo, Mulumbet Worku and William Amponsah will receive funding totaling $880,000.

The USDA 1890 Institution Teaching and Research Capacity Building Grants Program provides grants for teaching and research projects in high-priority areas. Project coordinators are encouraged to seek matching support from non-federal sources, and cooperation with one or more USDA agencies is required.

Funded projects include:

Dr. Terrence Thomas of the A&T Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education will direct, "Interdisciplinary Research for Addressing Small Farm Community Linkage Issues." Through the project, faculty will focus on strengthening rural communities through a multitude of strategies, including improving coordination among Cooperative Extension professionals and others working with this audience.

Faculty will also upgrade the School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences’ Applied Survey Research Laboratory and geographic information systems technology to enhance the capacity of the School to conduct high-level societal and economic research, in an effort to better understand issues faced by the state’s rural communities.

USDA's Forest Service and Natural Resource Conservation Service will work with the project, which also involves Dr. Abolghasem Shahbazi. It received $158,392 in funding from Capacity Building Grants Program.

"A Strategic Alliance between Farmers and University to Increase Farm Incomes," a project directed by Dr. Chung W. Seo of the A&T Department of Human Environment and Family Sciences, Food Science and Nutrition Research Program, will establish a green leafy vegetable processing model and train the small-scale farmers how to use it.

To develop the model, researchers will study the optimal processing conditions for washing, sanitizing and packaging green leafy vegetables. They believe that such a model will enable small-scale producers to process and market their own vegetables, increasing their profit margins.

USDA's Agricultural Research Service will work with the project, which also involves Drs. Rosa Purcell, Salam Ibrahim and Abolghasem Shahbazi. It received $241,841 in funding from the Capacity Building Grants Program.

"Agricultural Education to Address Emerging Needs of the Genomics Era," a project directed by Dr. Mulumbet Worku of the A&T Department of Animal Sciences, will enhance the School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences’ capacity to train students for careers in bioinformatics and genomics.

In the project, faculty will develop two new courses (bioinformatics and genomic analysis, and food biotechnology) and enhance six existing courses. They will also establish a Bioinformatics Learning Facility, facilitate biotechnology learning opportunities and create partnerships with biotechnology and genomics efforts at federal, state academic and industrial institutions.

USDA's Agricultural Research Service, the University of New Mexico National Biotechnology Information Facility, Tuskegee University, Iowa State University, North Carolina State University, and Paradigm Genetics will work with the project, which involves faculty in  all four departments of SAEAS. It received $179,772 in funding from the Capacity Building Grants Program.

"Advancing the International Trade Center’s Research Capacity to Service U.S. Access to the China Pork Market," a project directed by Dr. William Amponsah of A&T’s Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education, will build on existing efforts to help North Carolina farmers and agribusinesses capitalize on opportunities provided by emerging international markets.

In this project, researchers will focus on pork, China’s preferred protein source. They will work with Nanjing Agricultural University to document Chinese consumer preferences and the country’s meat distribution and marketing system, in order to provide pork producers in the United States vital information in their quest to access this market.

Furthermore, in compliance with the scientific exchange portion of the U.S.-China Trade Agreement, the project will provide opportunities for A&T to develop a cooperative agreement with Nanjing Agricultural University that will enable both institutions to further explore areas of mutually beneficial research and student exchanges.

USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service and Economic Research Service will work with the project, which also involves Drs. Xiang Dong Qin, Karen Guy and Thurman Guy. It received $299,995 in funding from the Capacity Building Grants Program.

The 1890 Institution Teaching and Research Capacity Building Grants Program is designed to strengthen collaboration among the 1890 institutions, and with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and private industry. Other goals include advancing cultural diversity in the food and agricultural fields, and enhancing the quality of teaching and research programs at historically black land grant institutions.

The Capacity Building Grants Program is competitive, and is administered by the Higher Education Programs office in the Science and Education Resources Development division of the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service.

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For more information, contact the Dean's Office, NC A&T School of Agriculture, (336) 334-7979.