Scientists with the Texas A&M AgriLife Research department received a $4.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to research and improve the U.S. melon industry. About $35 million have been awarded nationally by the USDA to 12 projects across the country seeking to address the concerns of melon safety, according to a thebatt.com report. Bhimu Patil, a horticultural sciences professor and director of the AgriLife Research department’s Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center, will head the project of collaborators from universities across the nation. “VFIC has been successful in teaching initiatives to increase awareness and effectively disseminate solutions to target audiences,” Patil said in the report. “A&M’s VFIC scientists will lead the nation partnering with melon growing states in the country.” The money was awarded to the university after the USDA-NIFA recognized the VFIC as a Center For Excellence in the field of U.S. melon research.