GRIP4PSI

Feb 8, 2021

PSI Profile: Ross Sozzani, Platform Director for Plant Improvement

The plant improvement platform director for the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative shares her vision: collaboration, innovative crop technologies and students ready for the workforce. 

Sep 23, 2020

NC State Team Finds Solution for Sweetpotato Problem

An NC State team led by Jonathan Schultheis has determined a new curing process that greatly reduces internal necrosis in Covington sweetpotatoes. This will save N.C. sweetpotato producers millions of dollars in crop loss. 

Jun 30, 2020

Using Leaf Fungi to Improve Crop Resilience

An interdisciplinary team led by Christine Hawkes is identifying beneficial fungi found in five key crops with the aim of using them to help plants fend off diseases and tolerate drought stress. 

May 27, 2020

Big Data for Better Sweetpotatoes

An interdisciplinary team led by Cranos Williams is setting out on a three-year project to use artificial intelligence to make sweetpotatoes even more profitable. The team will image hundreds of thousands of sweetpotatoes to increase the percentage of sweetpotatoes grown that are USDA grade 1. 

Apr 29, 2020

Plant Aid: A GRIP4PSI Big-Data Project to Detect Plant Diseases Faster

An interdisciplinary team led by professor Jean Ristaino will combine small sensors with big data for faster detection of the diseases plaguing tomato fields. From a hand-held plant disease ‘sniffer’ to a cloud-based database that can alert farmers about the cause of the stress and suggest possible mitigation strategies, the project aims to detect diseases early, improving yield. 

Mar 30, 2020

Fertilizer of the Future

An interdisciplinary team led by Katharina Stapelmann is setting out on an ambitious three-year project to completely rethink how nitrogen-based fertilizers are produced and used. From on-farm fertilizer production to on-demand, precision irrigation, their project aims to cut energy use, protect the water supply and increase yields.