Imagine a future where nursery growers can effortlessly manage their plants with cutting-edge automation technologies, using potting or weed-spraying robots, instead of having to dig each hole or spray each pot by hand. With the help of a $9.8 million grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), this vision is becoming a reality.
UF/IFAS will use about $1 million of the grant to lead research and development to tackle the labor challenges faced by the nursery industry. UF's role in this grant includes evaluating herbicide, pesticide, and fertilizer application equipment and testing people's perceptions of and willingness to adopt new strategies related to automation.
The grant will address critical labor challenges within the nursery industry, said Chris Marble, associate professor of ornamental and landscape weed management at the UF/IFAS Mid-Florida Research and Education Center.
"The big goal is to effect change. We want growers to adopt these different automation practices, but mostly, we want to give them information to even consider these changes in the first place," he said. "We want them to take incremental steps so they become more profitable and more sustainable, and it helps the industry as a whole."
Read more at UF/IFAS Blogs