DELTA CENTER RECEIVES GRANT

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A research grant for the University of Missouri's Delta Center at Portageville won approval here Thursday, Congressman Bill Emerson said.

The House-Senate conference on the Agriculture Appropriations Act of 1992 allocated $359,000 for research of a soybean pest, the soybean cyst nematode, at the Portageville laboratory. Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, requested the funding through the House Appropriations Committee earlier this year.

In announcing the grant's approval, Emerson said: "This funding will help make great strides in solving a problem that's plagued Southern Missouri farmers for years. Unlike floods, droughts, interest rates, or South American competitors, one of today's largest threats to soybean profitability is literally under foot soybean cyst nematodes. This tiny creature is one of the most severe crop damaging pests that American agriculture has seen for many years."

He added, "The Delta Center's work in this area is an excellent example of how federal funding for research makes a valuable contribution to the productivity of Southern Missouri farmers."