Horticultural Research Institute Announces Funded Research for 2023

By Jennifer Gray, Research Programs Administrator, Horticultural Research Institute, JenniferG@AmericanHort.org

The Horticultural Research Institute (HRI) announces nearly $400,000 in grant support for 11 projects to tackle green industry issues ranging from pest management to new technologies, from developing marketing insights to battling plant diseases.

“Research is essential to accelerating business growth,” said Brian Decker, HRI board president and president of Decker’s Nursery, Groveport, Ohio. “HRI is committed to supporting research in the priority areas of quantifying plant benefits, creating innovative solutions, gathering consumer insights, and producing practical and actionable solutions. The projects selected through our competitive grants program for funding this year meet the unique needs of the horticultural industry—and will provide solutions and knowledge that can help grow businesses.”

The Horticultural Research Institute’s mission is to direct, fund, promote and communicate horticulture research. Supporting research that challenges current methods and bridges the divide between businesses and the consumer is exactly how HRI helps build prosperous businesses, advance the green industry and fulfill its core vision.

“The 2023 investment in each of these projects is intended to improve and strengthen the industry,” said Jennifer Gray, HRI administrator. “Research is critical to the future of our industry, and thanks to the support of our dedicated donors, HRI is able to fund promising research and researchers every year.”

Descriptions of the projects can be found on HRIResearch.org.

• Assessing the Effectiveness of Marketing Strategies of Native Plants: A. Rihn, University of Tennessee

• Categorizing and Summarizing the Environmental and Ecological Benefits of Plants: M. Knuth, North Carolina State University

• Use of Drones in Nursery IPM Programs for Agro-Chemical Application and Monitoring Plant Health: S. Gill, University of Maryland

• Pulse Electricity as a Fumigant Alternative Nonchemical Preemergence Weed Control in Seedling Beds: M. Moretti, Oregon State University

• Combating the vector of rose rosette disease: I. Tzanetakis, T. Druciarek, University of Arkansas

• Creating new genetic resources toward preventing rose rosette virus infecting roses: J. Verchot, Texas A&M University

• Periodical Cicada: Study of potential controls for the Tennessee Nursery Industry: D. Airhart, M. Bowombe Toko, Tennessee Technological University

• Coordinating a National Response to Low Fertility Cultivars of Invasive Nursery Crops: R. Contreras, Oregon State University

• Beauty is only skin-deep (Latent Fruit Rot of Winterberry): F. Hand, The Ohio State University

• Copper-based nanoparticles (Cu-NPs) in the management of boxwood blight: S. Kodati, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

• Assessing Mouse Ear Disorder of Emerging Nursery Crops: B. Miller, University of Minnesota