The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded more than $6.5 million in grants to improve plant health, production and products.
“As the world’s population increases, plants play a vital role in the success of the national and global economy,” says Sonny Ramaswamy, NIFA director. “It is imperative that we study plant breeding and nutrient utilization in order to have a safe and secure food supply in the future.”
Some of the projects funded will address issues concerning zebra chip disease in potatoes, improving soybean productivity and controlling diseases affecting tomato health and fruit quality. The funded plant breeding projects focus on improving crop yield, efficiency, quality and adaptation to diverse agricultural systems. Photosynthetic and nutrient utilization projects will focus on increasing plant productivity and improving nutrient uptake, assimilation, accumulation and utilization.
The University of Florida in Gainesville; Agricultural Research Service in Peoria, Illinois; Rutgers University; The Ohio State University in Wooster; and University of Wisconsin in Madison all received plant breeding grants of $500,000 with Ohio receiving two grants.
Additionally 10 institutions were awarded grants for work on photosynthetic and nutrient utilization.
For more details, check visit USDA’s newsroom.
