WASHINGTON -- The American Nursery & Landscape Association and the United States Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service have guided new funding toward a research project to find strategic solutions to the invasive plant problems many states are experiencing.
The ANLA and USDA-ARS received $150,000 in funds for 2003 and will receive $468,750 this year from the USDA-Floriculture and Nursery Research Initiative.
With some calling for reactive restrictions like invasive plant bans, the project approaches the problem proactively through breeding for non-invasive traits.
Leading investigators are Drs. Thomas Ranney, North Carolina State University; Steven Strauss, Oregon State University; and Margaret Pooler, United States National Arboretum.
The research team will collaborate on breeding techniques to address invasiveness, improve pest resistance, environmental stress tolerance, and commercial potential of several important tree and shrub crops. Other benefits from reducing fertility include the elimination of nuisance fruit, reduction in pollen-induced allergies, and improved flowering and re-blooming characteristics.