By Alexandra McLaughlin
The Center for Plant Excellence, an initiative supporting Pennsylvania’s plant industries, announced an additional $241,903 in grants for its 2025-26 funding cycle, bringing the total number of projects funded in its inaugural grant program to 26. The center’s board of directors awarded the additional grants after completing its review of high-scoring applications from the first request for proposals.
The center is a partnership among the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, Penn State Extension and industry leaders.
Pennsylvania’s plant industries — from floriculture and hardwoods to specialty crops and hemp — generate more than $52 billion for the state’s economy annually, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. The Center for Plant Excellence was established to keep that edge, connecting research, workforce development and industry needs through competitive grant funding.
Below are additional award recipients in Track A: Research for Plant Industry Advancement:
- "Applied Research Trials of Fig Varieties and Growing Methods for Resilient Urban Production in a Changing Climate," Weavers Way Farms and W.B. Saul High School of Agricultural Sciences, Philadelphia, $22,255.
- Focus: Evaluating the cold hardiness, yield and labor efficiency of fig varieties under multiple overwintering and pruning systems at an urban farm in Northwest Philadelphia.
Source : psu.edu