What is the status of public plant breeding programs in the United States?
A graphic representation of the steps, and timeline, to develop a new apple variety.
January 7, 2021 – Most plant-based foods we eat today are a product of innovative plant breeding programs. The January 7
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Sustainable, Secure Food Blog explores the process and importance of plant breeding, and how these programs are at risk of extinction.
According to blogger Kate Evans, “U.S. public investment in plant breeding programs has fallen. The current funding model of short-term grants (1-, 2- or sometimes 5-year awards) is particularly challenging for breeding programs which require typically a 7- to 12-year process, or far longer.”
Programs could disappear as they see reduced budgets, staffing January 7, 2021 – Most plant-based foods we eat today are a product of innovative plant.
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IMAGE: Little corn residue remains after concentrated grazing in the high stocking density treatment the day that cattle were moved from the fields in March of 2020. view more
Credit: Morgan Grabau
By late fall, much of the Midwest is a pleasing landscape of dry, harvested corn fields. It makes for a bucolic rural scene on highway drives. But the corn litter that s left over doesn t seem useful, at least to untrained eyes.
But to those in the know, that corn residue is a valuable resource. Scattered leaves, husks, kernels, and cobs can serve as food to grazing cattle. When managed well, corn residue can increase farm income, provide affordable food for cattle, and efficiently use the land to feed people.
Tomilee Turner
Agriculture accounts for more than a third of water use in the United States. In drier parts of the country, like the southwestern US, that fraction can be much higher. For example, more than 75 percent of New Mexico s water use is for agriculture.
Richard Pratt, a member of the Crop Science Society of America, studies native crops that can enhance food security while reducing water use. Water sustainability and food security are tightly linked, he explains.
Pratt recently presented his research at the virtual 2020 ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting, hosted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.
Tepary beans - a versatile and sustainable native crop miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.