HRI Targets Water
The executive committee of the Horticultural Research Institute (HRI), the research arm of the American Nursery and Landscape Association (ANLA), granted $335,000 to 22 high-priority projects and four scholarships for 2006. These projects best meet the needs of the industry and have quality scientific merit that will result in new knowledge and techniques to deal with major industry issues.
A priority research issue identified by the committee and industry members has been water management and use. In response, the committee agreed to support a research consortium on water issues. It is the goal of the committee that during the consortium, priority water issues will be determined as well as the evaluation of current water research and its applicability to the industry. A total of $50,000 will be awarded to significant and quality water research projects. Collaboration among researchers will be encouraged to ensure that duplication of research does not occur.
In addition to HRI’s competitive grants program, HRI is actively partnering with other associations to increase industry research. Most notably, HRI has partnered with the USDA Agricultural Research Service to obtain and guide federal research dollars to critical industry research through the Floriculture and Nursery Research Initiative (FNRI). FNRI research funding now totals $6.25 million. By leveraging federal and other sources of research funding, HRI is able to fulfill its mission to become the national clearinghouse for research and development for the nursery and landscape industry.
In other ANLA news, the 2005 inductees into the HRI Industry Honor Roll have been named. The Industry Honor Roll is designed to recognize deceased individuals who have made a valuable leadership contribution to the progress of the nursery and landscape industry. ANLA makes a donation to the HRI Endowment Fund Honor Roll grant in honor of each individual. The recipient’s name is placed in a permanent historical record at the ANLA headquarters in Washington, D.C. to memorialize their accomplishments.
The following individuals have been elected to the Industry Honor Roll:
- Peter E. Costich, Horticultural Materials/Systems, Inc, Allentown, N.J.
- Kenneth M. (Ken) Crisp, Greenbrier Farms, Inc, Chesapeake, Va.
- Hayward B. (Bill) Huggins, Historyland Nursery, Inc., Warsaw, Va.
- Howard E. Kyle, A.M. Leonard, Inc., Piqua, Ohio
- Dale Manbeck, The Siebenthaler Company, Dayton, Ohio
- Kenneth L. Norgord, Monrovia Growers, Laguna Beach, Calif.
- Frank Schmidt, Jr., J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co, Ore.
For a complete list of the grant winners or for more information about the Honor Roll, contact ANLA at (202) 789-2900 or visit the Web site at www.anla.org .
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