SACRAMENTO – California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross this week congratulated the University of California at Santa Cruz for winning a grant of more than $2.6 million from the USDA for organic research.

The grant is among $19 million being issued nationally by the USDA for organic research and marketing.

The UC Santa Cruz project will facilitate a series of seminars, workshops, newsletters and online resources to share research that will help organic growers improve environmental sustainability and economic viability.

“With California’s place as the leading agricultural state in the country, including organic farming, this is an excellent investment of federal resources,” said Secretary Ross. “UC Santa Cruz is well positioned to put this grant to good use by providing targeted research information to our rapidly growing organic sector.”

The most recent survey of national organic production by the USDA showed California with 36 percent of all sales of organic commodities, on 470,000 acres of farmland.

Since the late 1990s, U.S. organic production has seen significant growth. U.S. producers are increasingly turning to certified organic farming systems as a potential way to decrease reliance on nonrenewable resources and compete in high-value markets.

Today more than two-thirds of U.S. consumers buy organic products at least occasionally, and 28 percent buy organic products weekly.

For more information about the USDA national grant program, visit http://www.nifa.usda.gov/newsroom/news/2011news/organic_awards.html.