Location: Application Technology Research
Project Number: 5082-30500-001-083-A
Project Type: Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jun 1, 2026
End Date: May 31, 2027
Objective:
Cooperator and USDA ARS will collaborate in research, development, and dissemination of innovative management tools and practices for protected agriculture, focusing on high tunnels, enabling Northeastern growers to make informed decisions to improve productivity, labor efficiency, and crop quality. Research will collect large datasets to evaluate alternative crop management, cultivar selection, technological advancements, soil health, amendment management, and production decisions to increase protected agriculture yields, quality, and profitability.
Research will assess vegetable and ornamental cultivars in Northeastern high tunnel conditions to optimize production. This project will identify integrated approaches to pest, weed, soil health, and disease management in protected agricultural systems. The project will identify viable alternatives to growing substrates used in transplant production. A critical aspect of the project focuses on economic and behavioral assessment of production practices in protected agricultural systems and understanding local demand for protected agriculture crops to expand markets.
Research findings will be translated into practical guidance that supports production decisions. Decision-support resources and Extension recommendations will help growers evaluate management decisions. By identifying optimal production practices, their cost-effectiveness, and the returns on production practice adoption, the project will provide clear guidance to farmers and increase adoption of innovative production strategies. Adoption depends on how practices perform biologically, economically, and operationally within real-world farming systems.
Approach:
This project employs a multidisciplinary approach to advance the performance and adoption of protected agriculture systems in the Northeast United States. Research activities span multiple dimensions of protected agriculture, with a strong emphasis on translating results into actionable guidance for growers. Crop varieties will be developed and evaluated for New England protected agricultural environments. Crop quality research will examine physiology, nutritional value, and metabolite accumulation. Research will investigate insect pests, weeds, and pathogens to improve their control in protected agriculture. Studies of soil and substrate processes, nutrient cycling, and resource use efficiency will be conducted to improve soil health. Research will evaluate the characteristics of alternative growing substrate to enhance their use and adoption. Water use and water quality will be examined to determine impacts on protected agriculture crops.
Research will examine drivers of technology adoption in protected agriculture and to assess consumers’ willingness to purchase protected agriculture crops. These insights will be integrated with economic modeling to evaluate cost–benefit tradeoffs in protected agriculture. Models based on production variability, market uncertainty, and investment costs will be used to generate production recommendations and support development of decision-support tools that help growers make informed management decisions.