The program began in 1998, funded by federal appropriations and has seen increased applications throughout the years, Buhler said. About one-third of projects submitted, or 88 projects, have been chosen for funding this year.

“The reason it was created is that there was a need for research and dissemination of information to help industries in Michigan,” Buhler said. “If you look at recent years, agriculture has been one of the only major industries in Michigan continuing to grow and showing some positive things. It’s more important now than it’s even been.”

Entomology professor Mark Whalon received funding for two of his projects this year and has been awarded money in the past. Whalon looks at Project GREEEN as a pump primer, bringing money into the state, and an emergency backfill, to solve the immediate problems of Michigan farmers.

“There are a lot of federal dollars the Obama administration has made available in green areas, but in order to compete, Michigan industry has to have this piece of information or that piece of information to compete nationally for federal funding,” he said. “We bring money back to the state by priming the pump right here at Michigan State University.”

Whalon said the Project GREEEN is vital as an emergency backfill to serve as a rapid response system for invasive species and dangers to the economy of the state. He cited a harmful fruit fly, which spreads across the entire country in the span of a year, threatening all kinds of plant-based agricultural products.

“Michigan is one of the most important specialty crop producing states in the U.S.,” Whalon said. “Specialty crops are a huge part of our economy now. As manufacturing has declined, specialty crop agriculture has exploded in Michigan.”

Although the reviewing board tries to select a wide variety of research and extension initiatives from those focusing on blueberries to asparagus, Project GREEEN funding has moved toward two distinct areas in the past few years, Buhler said, specifically those concerning biofuels and initiatives with the potential to create jobs.

MSU Extension director Thomas Coon said while a lot of the research projects for GREEEN begin at MSU, the university extension works to translate scientific findings to the agricultural community.

“Extension translates research findings to put them to work in the local community by preventing disease in cucumbers or pests in corn crops for example,” Coon said. “What’s so important about the project to me is that the stakeholders are part of this. The people who we serve are the ones telling us what we need to find, and they also help us review the proposals.”

Buhler said the program is vital, as is the agricultural industry as a whole, in helping to revitalize the state economy.

“Agriculture is changing a great deal, but it’s still a very big part of what we do,” he said. “We can be part of the economic redevelopment of the economy of Michigan. People need to keep that in mind as we look at the bigger picture of this.”