After a three-year investment from a USDA-sponsored grant, agricultural research scientists at Alabama A&M University are swimming ever closer toward full implementation of a ‘circle of sustainability.’

Associate Research Professor Ernst Cebert, who also manages the University’s Winfred Thomas  Agricultural Research Station (WTARS) in Hazel Green, Ala., has received some $300,000 over the years from the Evans-Allen program earmarked for 1890 land-grant institutions to develop a self-sustaining aquaculture/hdroponic system that not only potentially provides hands-on learning experiences for a plethora of disciplines, but one that also offers quality, healthy tilapia for the market.   

“We wanted to show that we can create everything related to raising a self-contained product, free from pesticide and cutting down on the often costly use of fish food,”