Kentucky State University recently received nearly $1.4 million in federal funding, as part of a $21.8 million investment by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1890 Land-grant institutions to support research at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. A nearly $250,000 portion of that funding was previously reported by Kentucky State.  

Dr. Kirk Pomper, the Dean of the College of Agriculture, Community, and the Sciences, said, “I am excited that our faculty and staff obtained these funds so that we can continue to address the needs of the stakeholders of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, especially our underserved and minority communities.”

Five grants were received by Kentucky State in the round of funding. 

Nearly $150,000 was awarded to a project that will engage underrepresented students in real-world investigations in a high school classroom to foster the next generation of agriculture students. The goal, according to the project proposal, for the project is to increase the interest, academic success and enrollment of diverse high school student populations from urban school settings in agricultural fields and careers. 

Nearly $250,000 was awarded to a proposal entitled “Extension approaches to support socially disadvantaged farmers and producers in GAP and FISMA challenges in the Covid era”. The proposal aims to help address the need for training for small-scale, minority and socially disadvantaged farmers and producers for the handling of produce and making of value-added products to be in compliance with Food Safety Modernization Act regulations. 

Another award of nearly $250,000 was granted for a proposal entitled “Expanding aquaculture and healthy food choices to reduce economic and health disparities affecting minority and limited-resource stakeholders”. This project, according to the proposal, builds on Kentucky State’s 1890 Land Grant Extension capacity by strengthening Extension development and services, and by upgrading Extension technologies and capabilities. 

Nearly $600,000 was awarded to a proposal that will assess honey bee stressors and apiary management practices in Kentucky. The proposal suggests conducting a holistic survey of pathogen incidence, pesticide residues and colony losses occurring in apiaries in Kentucky. 

Finally, an award of $150,000 was granted to a proposal entitled “Strengthening teaching effectiveness, curriculum, and experiential learning to prepare agricultural intelligence (AI) workforce for the 21st century”. The goal of this proposal is to enhance and strengthen the environmental science curriculum by providing a wider scope of environmental, geospatial science courses and experiential learning opportunities to undergraduate students, according to the proposal. 

“Our 1890 Land-grant universities are an integral part of our nation’s fabric,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a USDA press announcement. “ We are pleased to be able to build the research and training capacity of these critical institutions as they develop the next generation of leaders in agriculture.”

The overall investment by the USDA will fund 58 projects.