Six Rhode Island-based groups have been awarded grants totaling $244,109 from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management to support local farmers’ efforts to increase specialty-crop production and expand the marketplace.

Specialty crops include fruits and vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts and nursery crops, including floriculture and turf grass
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“Promoting growth in this important economic sector requires a coordinated yet varied approach that focuses on supporting growers and cultivating their practices but also increasing consumer knowledge and demand,” the DEM director, Janet Coit, stated in a release.

The grants and recipients are:

$20,131 — University of Rhode Island, Nutrition and Food Sciences Department: The Produce Safety Alliance will provide training for farmers in safe produce planting, harvesting and handling practices to better assist them in meeting FDA regulatory compliance mandates and buyer requirements.

$48,745 — Alex Caserta and the R.I. Public Broadcast System: PBS will air seven episodes of the Harvesting Rhode Island television series to promote Rhode Island specialty crop growers and educate consumers on the benefits of buying locally-produced crops.

$14, 291 — Rhode Island Agricultural Council: The council will develop and implement a promotional campaign to enhance the visibility and viability of specialty crops throughout Rhode Island and New England. Campaign activities will include development of a website, promotional materials and a traveling display highlighting local specialty crops.

$49,621 — Farm Fresh Rhode Island will engage in a systematic approach to increasing the demand for locally grown specialty crops in school cafeterias. Activities will include joining school district wellness committees, developing and implementing educational programs for classrooms and after-school programs, and facilitating communications among purchasers, producers and processor-distributors
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$20,000 — The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Rhode Island will provide training and technical support to farmers to enhance the competitiveness of eligible specialty crops. Specifically, efforts will focus on training farmers to produce high-value organic crops to meet local market demand through a series of advanced grower training seminars; technical support from local farm advisers and on-farm workshops during which organic techniques will be demonstrated.

$27,400 — The Rhode Island Beekeepers Association will provide registered beekeepers with a genetically-superior queen for re-queening of an existing hive. The project supports RIBA’s ongoing efforts to develop its own breeding program and will assist local beekeepers in invigorating and growing their colonies and increasing disease and mite resistance; it will also support the viability of the honeybee population, increasing the yield and quality of Rhode Island fruit and vegetable crops.

In addition to funding these grants, USDA awarded $63,921 to DEM to strengthen the “Get Fresh, Buy Local” campaign. The funds will be used to support specialty crop sales and improve promotional materials and activities, including featuring produce demonstrations by local celebrity chefs at farmers markets. To date, DEM has awarded more than $2 million in farm viability grants to support the competitiveness of locally grown specialty crops.