DATE:    10/21/99
CONTACT: Dr. Calvin Schoulties, (864) 656-7592

Regional Fruit Center Goes Online at Clemson University

     CLEMSON -- The latest information for small fruit producers
has gone online at Clemson University. Small fruits include
strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and grapes.
     The venture combines the expertise of Clemson Extension
personnel and research scientists with their colleagues at N.C.
State University and the University of Georgia to provide
continuously updated information for producers throughout the
Southeast.
     The website is located at www.smallfruits.org. Called the
Southern Region Small Fruit Center, it includes the latest
research on horticultural  practices, pest control and
cultivation techniques, as well as up-to-the-minute marketing
news, weather and activity within the small crop community.
     "The virtual small fruit center is an excellent example of a
multi-state partnership which is beneficial to small fruit
producers in all three states, " said Dan Smith, director of the
Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service. "We do not have
a small fruit specialist at Clemson, but producers and county
agents will have access to the latest research and technology
through the web by partnering with N.C. State and Georgia."
     "A virtual center seemed the best way to keep farmers and
agricultural extension specialists in touch with each other and
with other land grant universities across the entire region,"
said James R. Fischer, director of Agriculture and Forestry
Research at Clemson.
     While the website was created and is maintained by Clemson,
it is a product of a two-year agreement among the three
universities to support its maintenance and staffing. The
center's goals are to provide the latest information to
commercial growers and Extension educators and to encourage
economic opportunities for growers by expanding small fruit
production.
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