{"id":68825,"date":"2005-05-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2005-05-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-cooperative-extension-awarded-150000-grant-to-expand-technical-support-for-rhode-island-farms\/"},"modified":"2005-05-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2005-05-23T00:00:00","slug":"uri-cooperative-extension-awarded-150000-grant-to-expand-technical-support-for-rhode-island-farms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2005\/05\/uri-cooperative-extension-awarded-150000-grant-to-expand-technical-support-for-rhode-island-farms\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 Cooperative Extension awarded $150,000 grant to expand technical support for Rhode Island farms"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I. — May 23, 2005 — Over the past 20 years, nursery and turf have displaced food crops as the dominant agricultural cash crop in Rhode Island. Yet Rhode Islanders increasingly value the state\u2019s remaining food farms as a source of fresh produce and seasonal products, and for their important role in preserving open space, maintaining rural community identities, and enhancing tourism.<\/p>\n


\n\tTo help ensure the viability of food farming in the state, the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Cooperative Extension has been awarded a $150,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture aimed at providing farmers with the technical assistance and timely information they need to increase production and adopt new sustainable agriculture practices. While the initiative will serve all farms in the state, the project will undertake special outreach efforts to the small-scale farms where assistance is needed most.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cThis grant will help us provide farmers with consulting services and easy access to information to help them with their crop production, marketing, viability issues, and development of new products,\u201d said Ernest Morreira, a 溏心vlog免费B站 Cooperative Extension specialist who will oversee the program in partnership with the R.I. Department of Environmental Management\u2019s Division of Agriculture and the R.I. Center for Agricultural Promotion and Education. \u201cIt is a tremendous benefit to the state to keep these small-scale farms in operation.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tThe two-year grant will allow 溏心vlog免费B站 to hire a project manager with farming expertise to develop a commercial agriculture technical support system, including consulting services, farm viability assessments, and the formation of farm improvement intervention teams. \u201cThe new staff member will provide on-the-ground, boots-in-the-field assistance to underserved farmers,\u201d Morreira said.<\/p>\n


\n\tIn addition, an interactive website and listserv will be created for farmers as a communication resource for information and referrals. A toll-free hotline will also be established as another way of answering farmers\u2019 questions and solving their problems.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cThere are a number of positive and collaborative initiatives in Rhode Island to maintain and enhance agriculture as a permanent and viable component of the state\u2019s economy and quality of life,\u201d said Kenneth Ayars, chief of the DEM Division of Agriculture. \u201cEnhancing extension and technical support services to farmers is vital.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cThis initiative is part of a growing list of support services for Rhode Island’s farmers,\u201d said Stuart Nunnery, executive director of RICAPE. \u201cThe interest in the agricultural community to reinvigorate the state\u2019s agriculture in a variety of ways is very exciting. Meeting farmers\u2019 technical support needs is critical and will continue to be a primary focus of our collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tIt is expected that 250 farmers will receive assistance through the program. At the end of two years, the program\u2019s effectiveness will be evaluated and a recommendation will be made for creation of a permanent program.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. — May 23, 2005 — Over the past 20 years, nursery and turf have displaced food crops as the dominant agricultural cash crop in Rhode Island. Yet Rhode Islanders increasingly value the state\u2019s remaining food farms as a source of fresh produce and seasonal products, and for their important role in preserving open […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68825\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}