Washington State University researcher teams have been awarded more than $15 million in grants through the federal Specialty Crop Research Initiative. That’s more than a third of the $47.3 million awarded in total. About $10 million will support the following research projects focusing largely on tree fruits and grapes: • A total systems approach to developing a sustainable, stem-free sweet cherry production, processing, and marketing system, $3.8 million. WSU researchers involved include plant physiologist Matthew Whiting (leader), cherry breeder Nnadozie Oraguzie, biological systems engineer Qin Zhang, genomicist Amit Dhingra, food scientist Carolyn Ross, and Fran Pierce, director of WSU’s Center […]