The California Strawberry Commission has given $1 million to Cal Poly to create a sustainability research and education center that will support the state's strawberry industry.

University spokeswoman Ellen Cohune said in a news release that the center will be the first of its kind in California, and will focus on sustaining strawberry farming in California, which is one of the nation's key strawberry producers.

The center will use researchers from numerous disciplines at Cal Poly, including hydrologists, plant and insect scientists, engineers, packaging experts and marketing specialists.

A formal announcement will be made at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday at Dexter Lawn. Speaking will be Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong, Strawberry Commission President Mark Murai and horticulture and crop science Professor Wyatt Brown.