U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 Environmental Microbial & Food Safety Laboratory: Beltsville, MD
 close



    Research

                    Research Projects
                                    Publications
                                    Collaborations
                                    News
                People

                    Staff Listing
                                    Careers


        


                    About Us
                        Mission, Facilities, and Expertise
                                    Five Appropriated Projects
                                    Research Staff (by project group)Search small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Northeast Area Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) Beltsville Agricultural Research Center Environmental Microbial & Food Safety Laboratory Research





- Sharma, Manan
- Pachepsky, Yakov
- 2023
- 2022
- Publications
- Food Safety, (Animal and Plant Products) (108)

Research Project: **Location:
                            Environmental Microbial & Food Safety Laboratory** Project Number: 8042-42610-001-000-D
                        
                        Project Type: In-House Appropriated Start Date: Feb 16, 2021
                        
                        End Date: Feb 15, 2026 **Objective:**
                        
                        Objective 1. Reduction of microbial contamination in pre-harvest agricultural environments through improvement of microbial water quality.
Sub-objective 1A. Develop and evaluate on-farm filtration technologies which can be implemented in a cost-effective manner to improve the microbial quality of surface irrigation water.    
Sub-objective 1B. Identify and prioritize microbial, agricultural, seasonal, and spatiotemporal factors which affect the survival of enteric bacterial pathogens in soils and on plants introduced through contaminated irrigation water.

Objective 2. Develop and validate novel monitoring methods for the microbial quality of irrigation water sources.
Sub-objective 2A. Research the application of the UAV-based hyperspectral imaging to quantify lateral patterns of indicator and pathogen bacteria concentrations in irrigation ponds.
Sub-objective 2B. Quantify movement indicators and pathogens from bottom sediment to stream water column at base flow conditions.
Sub-objective 2C. Develop the microbial fate and transport modeling capabilities for APEX and the microbial index modeling method for site-specific evaluation of risks exceeding microbial water quality standards in surface water sources for irrigation. **Approach:**
                        
                        On-farm filtration technologies will be scaled up and modified based on previous sand and iron filtration designs. Designs will include the incorporation of the lytic bacteriophages as a pre-treatment before the filtration process or after the pre-filtration process.  Survival of pathogens in water after filtration or undergoing no filtration will then be evaluated in soils amended with treated or untreated soil amendments, along with the transfer of these pathogens to growing food commodities. Hyperspectral imaging conducted by unmanned aerial vehicles will be used in conjunction with standard microbiological methods to quantify E. coli in ponds. Sensitive methods to recover bacterial fecal indicators and enteric pathogens will be used to characterize the movement of these microorganisms in ponds. Current modeling frames and software packages will then be used to model the fate and transport of these pathogens in ponds and creeks which serve as potential irrigation water sources.


Return to top


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov