EDGE newsletters contain brief descriptions of research activities and discoveries at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and provides links to researchers, centers, and sources of additional information.

This month's issue of Edge features agricultural research.

Improving Winegrape Yields

In 1986, Cabernet Sauvignon was grown widely in Virginia, but was subject to winter injury in all but the best planting sites. So, Virginia Tech’s Alson H. Smith Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Winchester established a winegrape variety evaluation in 1989.

Cold hardiness tests showed that Cabernet Franc buds had greater cold hardiness by one to three degrees Fahrenheit than Cabernet Sauvignon buds and offered comparable wine quality. The commercial acreage of Cabernet Franc has increased significantly since 1993 to a ranking of seventh in acreage in 1998.

Virginia vineyards’ 1997 Cabernet Franc wines won the 1999 Governor’s Cup and the Best of Show at the 1999 Virginia State Fair. As their reputation has grown, so have the sales of Virginia wines: from 35,000 cases in 1985 to 200,000 cases in 1995.

Contact Tony Wolf, 540-869-2560 or vitis@vt.edu

Cleaning up the Bay

Agricultural runoff poses a major water quality problem for the Chesapeake Bay and other bodies of water near farmlands. So, Virginia Tech researchers Andrea Dietrich and Daniel Gallagher from civil and environmental engineering and Theo Dillaha of biological systems engineering, along with colleagues from the colleges of Arts and Sciences and Agriculture and Life Sciences, have determined control mechanisms to limit agricultural pollution.

The researchers found that copper pesticides were leaving agricultural fields in large quantities and adversely impacting aquatic organisms. They discovered that judicious use of pesticides, plus detaining field runoff in sedimentation basins, so any washed off copper can settle out, removed about 90 percent of the copper before it entered natural waters.

As a result of this work, Virginia Tech scientists and engineers are cooperating with Virginia farmers and agency personnel to develop a "Best Management Practices Handbook for Plastic Mulch Production" that will help farmers produce fruits and vegetables with plastic mulch in a profitable and environmentally sound manner.

Contact Andrea. Dietrich at 540-231-5773 or andread@vt.edu.

Increasing Land Resources

In population, Virginia is the fourth fastest-growing state in the nation. More than 36 percent of all Virginia residences rely on an on-site system to renovate wastewater before it reaches ground or surface water. Yet, only 50 percent of the land area in Virginia is suitable for conventional on-site wastewater treatment systems. This ideal 50 percent is also Virginia’s land bank for agriculture.

Since alternative on-site systems would allow residential development on the other 50 percent, thereby relieving some of the pressure from suburban development of farm land, Virginia Tech soil science researchers demonstrated that alternative systems are available that can be safely used in Virginia on soils that are not suitable for a conventional system. As a result, since 1989, approximately 20,000 alternative systems have been installed in Virginia.

Research on alternative systems also provides an option to counties in Virginia that want to consider restrictions on development of farm land because homes can now be built on soils (using alternative systems) that are much less desirable for agricultural production.

Contact Steven C. Hodges, professor and head of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences, 540-231-6305 or hodges@vt.edu.

Top