Summary: Below are requests placed by Rep. Johnson's office regarding Agricultural appropriations
AGRICULTURE
Project: Cotton Insect Management and Fiber Quality, GA, University of Georgia, 109 Conner Hall Athens, GA 30602
Funding Request: $500,000
The Georgia Cotton Commission is seeking a $500,000 restoration of the CSREES special research grant titled "Cotton Insect Management and Fiber Quality". The special research grant will enable the continuation of valuable research on cotton insect management in the Southeast, where cotton pests are one of the primary causes of cotton yield loss and quality damage. Investing in this innovative research will help further protect our cotton crops, the environment, and our farmers’ investment.
The cotton industry is highly vulnerable to pests, and mitigation of these threats is critical to the cotton industry’s stability. The Georgia Cotton Commission, in concert with the University of Georgia, is working to develop new management techniques to maintain current production levels and high levels of fiber quality. This is a vast area of research as production and management techniques are widely varied across the cotton belt due to differing climatic and cultivation conditions. This project has received previous funding of $494,000 in FY 2006 and $371,000 in FY 2008.
Project: Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, 40 Courtland Street, NE Atlanta, GA 30303
Funding Request: $3,000,000
The funding would be put towards watershed monitoring and restoration projects as well as future floodplain mapping efforts. Local governments throughout the District's 15-county area (Bartow, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Forsyth, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Paulding, and Rockdale Counties, Georgia) are required to implement the District’s three water resource plans in order to receive permits from GA EPD. It is estimated that more than $75 billion will be spent over the next 30 years to implement the plans.
Project: Water Use Reduction, Dawson, GA, National Peanut Research Laboratory 1011 Forrester Dr., SE Dawson, GA 39842
Funding Request: $480,000
$480,000 increase for the National Peanut Research Laboratory, Dawson, GA, to enhance and encourage additional support from other industry partners including crop commodity groups, USDA, and irrigation hardware manufacturers and dealers to develop and evaluate methods for the employment of highly efficient drip irrigation systems for row crops.
Persistent drought, energy costs, urban expansion, and interstate litigation are collectively threatening irrigation water supplies in many parts of the U.S. Efficient water use is critical for sustainable economic development. Subsurface drip irrigation (SSDI –shallow and deep buried) systems are gaining interest because of the potential for higher yields, increased water use efficiency, and reduced input costs. SSDI is gaining interest by row crop farmers with small, irregularly shaped fields that are not economically or physically suitable for overhead sprinkler irrigation, especially center pivot systems.
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