Project Number: 3607-21000-011-15
Project Type: Grant

Start Date: May 05, 2008
End Date: May 04, 2009

Objective:
The $5000 (total SCA amount) will be used to secure the venue to host the conference, and include rental of poster display boards, rental of digital projectors, and compiling a CD containing video clips of various verbal presentations for educational purposes. This meeting will provide an international forum in which to report and discuss the research results as well as get useful feedback to improve on our current, ongoing silicon-based project(s).

Approach:
The use of silicon in agriculture is an emerging field of research with historically minimal research originating from the US. Since 2004, the Application Technology Research Unit has led the effort in exploring silicon's use as a fertilizer amendment in floriculture to mitigate pathogen susceptability, insect pest occurrence, and micronutrient toxicities. The USDA and our Agency has never had a presence at any similar meeting and since most of the leaders in the field of silicon research are international, this meeting is an excellent opportunity to show the Agency's interest in this research topic, through our sponsorship, and get useful feedback on how we can improve our impact.