The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA’s NIFA) has awarded a $300,000 grant to fund a research project focused on improving food safety for hydroponic lettuce production. The project will be led by the University of Arkansas’ Kristen Gibson, Ph.D., Director of the Arkansas Center for Food Safety and Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station faculty member.
The project aims to meet the needs of the growing hydroponic lettuce industry, which, according to USDA, has more than doubled its production over a 5-year period, from 15.4 million pounds (lbs.) produced in 2015 to 36.4 million pounds in 2019.