High Tunnel Crop Production Project
US-China partnership for strengthening research, education and extension in season extension production and marketing
A $150,000 grant will enable Mississippi State University students to gain international exposure as they study a technology that makes it possible to grow crops for longer than a typical season allows. The grant will help develop and enhance teaching, research and extension programs to improve the profitability of small farms, which account for more than 90 percent of all farms in the United States.
Mengmeng Gu, an ornamental horticulture specialist with the MSU Extension Service said, "China, which has a climate comparable to that of the United States, has been a major agricultural country for 5,000 years and has used season extension technology for decades. It is the world’s top user of plastic for crop production, one type of season extension technology, and has more acreage in production under plastic and glass than the rest of the world combined.”
The first trip will be a study abroad
trip - Season Extension Horticulture in China, May 10-June 5, 2010. (See
flyer and application.
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