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Project GREEEN turns 25

Michigan has invested more than $136.5 million into the state’s largest plant agriculture research initiative over the past 25 years.

Michigan State University Ag Bio Research Director George Smith tells Brownfield Project GREEEN (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs) has been able to return about $15 in economic impact for every dollar of investment.

“Project GREEN is our really flagship program that came to be by our commodity group partners in agriculture coming together and saying we need help with our immediate challenges and priorities on an annual basis, short term priorities,” he says.

Smith says current research projects stretch from controlling fruit damage from the pest spotted winged drosophila to mitigating tar spot in corn.

“Our folks are doing everything from looking at ways to combat it with existing approaches like fungicide efficiency and timing, and a whole host of tools have been created to assist growers— smartphone apps, online resources, etcetera,” he says. “That’s a new problem, through research, some solutions have been developed.”

He says the funds have supported a long list of agricultural needs in the state as well as the establishment MSU’s Plant and Pest Diagnostic Lab.

The initiative has been supported by the Michigan legislature, 45 commodity organizations, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and MSU since 1997.

AUDIO: George Smith, Michigan State University Ag Bio Research