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| Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences VISION eXtra is e-mailed weekly to faculty and staff of Bumpers College and the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Division of Agriculture. This service is primarily for timely announcement of news and events for the AAES and Bumpers College. Submit items to hmedders@uark.edu. You may also wish to submit items to headline@uark.edu for posting on "UA Daily Headlines" for campus-wide distribution. |
May 20, 2008 |
1. Lalit Verma named interim dean
2. Byproduct Feeds research facility dedicated at SWREC
3. SWREC hosts horticulture field day -- June 5
4. Rosenkrans receives faculty mentor award
5. Plant diagnostic booth at Farmers Market
6. Rockefeller Institute to host tomato workshop - June 28
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1. Lalit Verma Named Interim Dean
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Lalit Verma |
Lalit Verma, head of the department of biological and agricultural engineering, has been named interim dean of Bumpers College and associate vice president for agriculture--academic programs in the University of Arkansas System's Division of Agriculture. His appointment is effective July 1.
Carl Griffis will serve as interim head of the biological and agricultural engineering department.
Verma will succeed Greg Weideman, who is leaving the university to take the position of dean and director of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Connecticut.
"Lalit Verma has shown what he can accomplish as an academic leader. He helped to build a relatively small department into a vibrant and growing program," said chancellor-elect G. David Gearhart. "He will bring these same leadership skills to Bumpers College during this interim period. I am grateful to Dr. Verma for accepting this important interim position."
"Dr. Verma has provided outstanding leadership in his department to match his contributions to his profession. We look forward to working with him in his new role," said Milo Shult, university system vice president for agriculture.
"I am very excited about this great opportunity," said Verma. "I look forward to working with all of my colleagues in our exceptional Bumpers College faculty. Together we will continue to improve and promote agriculture in Arkansas, in the nation and in the world."
Verma came to the University of Arkansas in 2000 as head of the biological and agricultural engineering department. He is internationally recognized for his research in rice and forage post-harvest engineering and technology. He holds a patent awarded for the "Process for Parboiling Rice" and led research on "Electrotechnology in Cereal Grains Processing." These focused on utilizing microwave energy for rice parboiling that enabled rice and food processing operations to save energy, time and cost.
Among his many academic and professional honors, Verma received the President's Citation from the American Society of Agricultural Engineers in 2000 for his leadership in developing accreditation criteria for educational programs that involve engineering in agricultural, food and biological systems. He was named Engineer of the Year for the Louisiana section of the A.S.A.E. in 2001, and Outstanding Engineer for the Arkansas section in 2003. He was named president of the Institute of Biological Engineering in 2004.
Verma has a B.S. degree in agricultural engineering from J. N. Agricultural University in India, an M.S. degree in agricultural engineering from Montana State University, and a Ph.D. degree in engineering from the University of Nebraska. He served on the faculty of the biological and agricultural engineering department at Louisiana State University for 20 years, including eight years as the department chair.
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2. Byproduct feeds research facility dedicated at SWREC
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| Speakers at a dedication program for the Byproduct Feeds Research and Demonstration Barn at the Southwest Research and Extension Center are pictured with a poster that lists project donors. Pictured are, from left, Keith Lusby, U of A Division of Agriculture animal science department head; Vic Ford, center director; Ned Ray Purtle and Warren Plyler, local beef producers; and Milo Shult, U of A System vice president for agriculture. | The Byproduct Feeds Research and Demonstration Barn at the Southwest Research and Extension Center will help researchers conduct controlled studies on use of alternative feed ingredients to assure reliable results for use by beef cattle producers and for publication in scientific journals. |
One of the greatest needs of Arkansas cattle producers is to reduce feeding costs in a time of high grain prices, Warren Plyler of Clear Lake Farm at Spring Hill said at a dedication program for a new Division of Agriculture research and demonstration facility at the Southwest Research and Extension Center at Hope.
Plyler was chairman of a committee that recommended construction of the Byproduct Feeds Research and Demonstration Barn that was dedicated May 14 at SWREC. The committee also raised funds to help pay for the project.
"Ned Ray Purtle (of Hope) volunteered to pay half of it if the community would match it," Plyler said. Area businesses, organizations and individuals provided cash and in-kind contributions of about $40,000.
U of A System Vice President for Agriculture Milo Shult thanked the 17 donors recognized at the dedication program for their gifts and those who helped determine that such a facility was needed.
"We want to do things to help meet the needs of people involved in agriculture," Shult said.
The barn provides for storage and processing of alternative feed ingredients in bulk for research on how to use them to reduce cattle feeding costs with no negative effects on performance, said Vic Ford, center director.
The barn and other facilities will allow for controlled research to provide reliable results for use by Arkansas producers and for publication in national animal science journals, Ford said.
"We are looking for the most efficient ways to use these byproducts," said Assistant Professor Paul Beck, who has been conducting research at the center for several years on use of alternative feed ingredients.
Beck said alternative formulations are tested in feedlot trials and grass pasture trials for feed supplements. Some ingredients being evaluated include distiller's grain and glycerol, which are byproducts of bio-fuels production; corn gluten; rice bran; cotton seed cake; soybean hulls and hominy from corn milling.
Ford said the following donors contributed to the building construction fund. AgHeritage FCS, Anthony Wood Treating, Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation, Bancorp South, Clark County Farm Bureau, Clear Lake Farm, CMC Steel Products, Diamond State Bank, FCS of Western Arkansas, First National Bank, Hempstead County Farm Bureau, Hope Concrete Products, Lafayette County Farm Bureau, Nevada County Farm Bureau, Ned Ray Purtle, Southwest Arkansas Equipment Company and Summit Bank.
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3. SWREC hosts horticulture field day -- June 5
The Division of Agriculture will hold a horticulture field day June 5 at the Southwest Research and Extension Center near Hope.
The afternoon field day will feature field tours of research projects, a barbecue dinner and a "walk-in" plant disease clinic for home, garden and lawn plants.
The field tour topics include:
* blackberry and peach breeding update,
* fertilizer recommendations for southern orchards,
* how to pick up right plants for southern Arkansas yards,
* manage tomato nematode with biofumigation crops, and
* lawn and turf weed management.
An indoor session on vegetable garden disease management will follow the field tours. A complimentary dinner will be at 6:20 p.m. and the plant disease clinic will follow it. Participants are invited to bring their problems plants in for diagnosis.
Visitors who plan to attend the dinner are asked to RSVP by May 27 by calling 870-777-9702, extension 109, or by e-mail to qchen@uaex.edu.
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4. Rosenkrans receives faculty mentor award
Charles Rosenkrans Jr., professor of animal science, was one of six members of the University of Arkansas faculty honored recently for their work mentoring undergraduate students. The six received the 2008 Faculty Gold Medal Award from the Office of Post-Graduate Fellowships.
As many as six faculty members are chosen each year to receive this award. Faculty members are nominated by honors directors as well as others and are selected by a committee that includes the Honors College dean and staff members of the post-graduate fellowships office.
A Gold Medal is also presented to a department on campus. This year the award went to the department of chemistry and biochemistry.
Other Gold Medal Award winners are Magda El-Shenawee, associate professor of electrical engineering in the College of Engineering; Fran Hagstrom, assistant professor of rehabilitation, human resources and communication disorders in College of Education and Health Professions; Lisa Margulis, assistant professor of music in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences; Xiaogang Peng, professor of chemistry in Fulbright College; and Javier Reyes, assistant professor of economics in the Sam M. Walton College of Business.
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5. Plant diagnostic booth at Farmers Market
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| Plant pathology graduate students, from left, Keiddy Esperanza Urrea-Romero, Maria Isabel Villarroel-Zeballos, and Jinita Sthapit staff a diagnostic booth at the Fayetteville Farmers Market. |
The Plant Pathology Graduate Students Association is staffing a Plant Diagnostic Booth the first and third Saturday of each month at the Fayetteville Farmers Market on the downtown square. The public is invited to bring samples of plants for diagnosis of problems. The booth will be staffed on June 6 and 20.
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6. Rockefeller Institute to host tomato workshop - June 28
Boasting 20 varieties of tomatoes in its vegetable garden, the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute will host a "From the Seed to the Plate" workshop atop Petit Jean Mountain from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 28.
Throughout the day, Division of Agriculture horticulturalists David Hensley, horticulture department head, and Janet Carson, extension horticulturalist, will provide tours of the garden. Division horticulturalists Teddy Morelock and Steve Vann will present workshop sessions.
The workshop will include sessions on growing tomatoes and ways to serve them.
"In our garden, we grow heirloom tomato varieties, most of which are not available at your local grocery store," said Sandy Davies, who coordinates the tomato workshop.
Tomato tasting will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Rockefeller Institute's Teaching Barn. The tasting fee is $5.
Two alternative sessions focusing on growing tomatoes will take place in the morning at 10 and in the afternoon at 2 at the Teaching Barn. The cost to attend the tomato growing session is $15.
Chef Rick Tankersley of Sysco Food Services will be the presenter in the tomato culinary demonstration at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tankersley will have a variety of recipes - from tomato fritters to tomato pine nut soup. This session will be held in the state-of-the-art Culinary Classroom. The cost is $25.
Exhibits and vendors at the tomato workshop include Petit Jean Honey, Petit Jean Foothills Nursery, Bloomin' Baskets, Heritage Seeds, a tomato salsa sale featuring recipes from Rockefeller Institute executive chef Heather Welch, and a Petit Jean Extension Homemakers Tomato Cookbook sale.
To register for the tomato workshop online, visit www.uawri.org and click on "Register Now" from the "Educational Programs" menu. To register by phone, call (501) 727-5435.
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See other upcoming events online at Calendar of Events.
Submit Calendar items to dedmark@uark.edu.
AAES and Bumpers College Web sites:
http://aaes.uark.edu/
http://bumperscollege.uark.edu/