USDA invests $17.7 million in plant health and production workforce
"Plants are the foundation of diet for both humans and animals,” said NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy. “It is imperative to invest in research to stay ahead of the biological and environmental constraints, and develop new technologies to produce a secure, nutritious food supply for a growing population."
AFRI is USDA’s flagship competitive grants program for foundational and translational research, education, and extension projects in the food and agricultural sciences. The AFRI program area of Plant Health and Production and Plant Products supports projects on foundational knowledge of agricultural production systems, pests, and beneficial species in agricultural production systems, physiology of agricultural plants, and plant breeding for agricultural production.
FY16 Plant Health and Production and Plant Products grants include:
Foundational Knowledge of Agricultural Production Systems
University of California, Berkeley, California, $500,000
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, $400,000
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa, $500,000
University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, $500,000
Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, $400,000
Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, $500,000
Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan, $500,000
Alcorn State University, Lorman, Mississippi, $400,000
University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, $461,187
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, $461,187
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, $500,000
Plant Breeding for Agricultural Production
University of California, Davis, California, $490,000
University of California, Davis, California, $490,000
University of California, Davis, California, $25,000
University of California, Davis, California, $25,000
USDA Agricultural Research Service, Midwest Area, Peoria, Illinois, $490,000
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa, $490,000
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa, $490,000
Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi, $150,000
University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, $20,000
Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, $244,618
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey, $456,727
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, $25,000
University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, North Carolina, $490,000
Gordon Research Conferences, West Kingston, Rhode Island, $25,000
South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota, $244,618
Texas A&M AgriLife Research, College Station, Texas, $490,000
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, $490,000
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, $25,000
Physiology of Agricultural Plants
Chapman University, Orange, California, $149,980
University of California, Davis, California, $499,995
University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, $150,000
University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, $24,950
Florida International University, Miami, Florida, $116,830
University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, $455,000
University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, $451,747
University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois, $410,000
USDA Agricultural Research Service, Midwest Area, Peoria, Illinois, $410,000
Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, $470,000
Louisiana State University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, $499,627
American Society of Plant Biologists, Rockville, Maryland, $25,000
University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, $499,032
University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, $425,200
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, $135,578
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, $470,000
Gordon Research Conferences, West Kingston, Rhode Island, $20,740
Gordon Research Conferences, West Kingston, Rhode Island, $18,500
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, $410,000
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, $17,500
Texas A&M AgriLife Research, College Station, Texas, $455,000
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, $470,000
Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, $410,000
Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, $494,390
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, $25,000
Among these FY16 projects, NIFA and a multistate consortium led by the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, in response to the commodity board provision in the 2014 Farm Bill, are co-funding Iowa State University researchers to study the use of soil nitrate sensors and genotyping to improve yield prediction models for next generation breeders. Among other projects, Michigan Technological University researchers will investigate novel timber production systems to protect productivity and sustainability of northern hardwoods in the North-Central region. Rutgers University researchers will target cranberry fruit chemistry to develop cultivars for use in healthier, low-sugar products.
More information on these projects is available on the NIFA website.
Source: usda.gov