Plant Science Collaborates on $300,000 Video Grant

Ag college news

The Department of Plant Science collaborated on a proposal that won a nearly $300,000 grant to develop instructional videos on how to grow and produce vegetables.

The department joined researchers at UC Davis and three other CSU campuses, Fresno State, Chico State and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, to obtain the grant for the three-year video project.

With large numbers of Baby Boomer workers in the agricultural production, marketing, and post-harvest handling sectors expected to retire in the next few years, the industry will need new workers.

The project will create high-quality instructional videos with the goal of improving training and increasing the number of graduates from California university horticulture programs by 20 percent.

Cal Poly Pomona will focus creating videos on small-scale and urban vegetable crop production, says Valerie Mellano, professor and chair of the plant science department.

The videos will be free for the public to use, including community colleges, adult schools, master gardeners, workers at urban and community gardens, and school garden workers, she says. Students can participate in the project by setting up production, editing videos, and scoping out prospective video locations, Mellano says.

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