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Editors: Kelly Sprute and Judy Rude Dec. 13,
2017
Partnership as a Verb
 By Sonny Ramaswamy, Director, National Institute of Food and
Agriculture
Merriam-Webster defines partnership as a noun: The state or condition of being a partner.
I define partnership as a verb: To join or associate with another to create outcomes.
I daresay, 2017 has been a tremendous year of outcomes, as a
result of our partnerships: collaborations with leading scientists,
policymakers, and extension professionals to identify and deliver innovative
solutions to the most pressing local and global problems. Together we make
American agriculture more competitive, bolster the U.S. economy by creating
jobs, enhance the safety of our food supply, improve nutrition, sustain natural
resources and the environment, and build energy independence. And much more.
One need only look at the vast portfolio of projects the National
Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is privileged to manage, thus,
contributing to solutions for problems: local to global.
As 2017 comes to an end, I want to celebrate by spotlighting
a few NIFA-funded projects representative of the fantastic work you do.
- With funding from the Agriculture and Food
Research Initiative (AFRI), a team of researchers led by the University of California–Davis identified a gene
from pasta wheat that confers resistance to the new virulent races of the UG99 stem
rust pathogen that appeared in Africa at the beginning of this century.
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Texas
A&M University – Kingsville, with NIFA support, joined with New Mexico State University to create
the LEADERS – a collaborative program
to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics representation
among underserved animal sciences students. In just two years, the number of
participating students reporting a GPA of higher than 3.0 increased from 73
percent to 97.
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Cereon
Biotechnology, a company in Fairbanks,
Alaska, used a Small Business Innovation Research grant
to identify a biochemical pathway in central nervous system neurons that links
synaptic dysfunction to neuroinflammatory changes. Cereon also identified the
potency of Alaska wild berries that may blunt the inflammatory damage.
- Researchers at the University of Connecticut became
the first to use plant products to treat Salmonella enteritidis where it starts,
in chickens. Plant-derived antimicrobials can control growth of the infection
in broilers, on meat from chickens, on eggshells, and in laying hens.
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Fort Valley State University
researchers created Targeted Selective Treatment (TST) in which only infected sheep
and goats receive treatment for barber’s pole worm. TST reduces the use of
synthetic drugs by up to 90 percent, saving farmers $150-$200 per 100 animals
per year.
- Researchers and extension educators at the University of Guam funded by Hatch
funds, lead the Children's Healthy Living
Program, a partnership among remote Pacific states, to promote healthy
activity and nutrition to prevent childhood obesity and its associated health
risks.
- According to Iowa State University researchers,
a bio-based, soybean-derived compound mitigates ammonia emissions at livestock
facilities by up to 68 percent and major odors up to 90 percent without a significant
increase in nitrous oxide emissions.
- U.S. production of Atlantic salmon has dropped
more than 35 percent since 2000, due to an increase in the death rate of salmon
embryos. Now, AFRI-funded
research at the University of Maine
shows that female salmon with high levels of two types of hormone produce eggs
that achieve an 80
percent survival rate.
- Researchers at Michigan State University used Specialty
Crop Research Initiative funding to debunk the notion that planting flowers
next to an almond orchard reduces harvest yields. In fact, their study showed
that the additional flowers benefitted the cash crop and added diversity to the
bees’ diet, which improved bee health and increased hive populations.
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Leech
Lake Tribal College and University
of Minnesota Extension personnel are working together with the Band of
Ojibwe to ensure food security to the reservation and revive agricultural
traditions. A grant from the Federally-Recognized
Tribes Extension Program supported more than 700 residents who participated
in traditional planting and harvesting, food preservation, and saving the seeds
of culturally important plants.
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Alcorn
State University partnered with Louisiana
State University to develop
13 virus-resistant sweet potato lines. The project also trained students
and other personnel to develop skills in plant tissue culture techniques,
disease diagnosis techniques, and field practices.
- In Missouri, 4-H clubs take an inclusive
approach to working with youth who have special needs, with no set-aside or separate
programs or activities for youth with special needs. Examples of special needs
youth in Missouri 4-H are featured
in the YouTube video, “4-H and Youth
with Special Needs.”
- NIFA-funded researchers at the Boyce Thompson Institute in Ithaca, New
York, have discovered in the bellies of Asian citrus psyllids (ACP) a protein
that may be part of the insect’s natural
defense against the pathogen responsible for Huanglongbing (citrus
greening). Results from this study will help inform future strategies to
control citrus greening disease.
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North
Carolina A&T University research into structural and cellular
differences in swine respiratory systems contributed new findings to the
science of respiratory health for swine and, potentially, for humans. The Evans-Allen-funded
project could lead to improved treatments of chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD).
- The Ohio
State University’s Urban GEMS
(Gardening Entrepreneurs Motivating Sustainability) program teaches skills in
science, agriculture, and food production. Participants of this Children,
Youth, and Families at Risk-funded program are operating 26 tower gardens
in nine locations within Columbus-area food deserts.
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Building
on previous discoveries, Texas
A&M University scientists are working on draw out powerful HIV-blocking
antibodies in cows in a matter of weeks, which usually takes years in
humans. Researchers believe that cows’ ability to produce these antibodies
against HIV highlights even broader significance, particularly for emerging
pathogens.
If the United States is to retain its global preeminence in
agriculture, we must continue to be mindful of the power of knowledge, the
result of the amazing partnership between NIFA and the vast community of
grantees in the academic, governmental, non-governmental, and private sectors.
As you get together with your family and friends for the
holidays and mark the end of 2017, think of this innovation engine that drives
the world’s best agricultural research, education, and extension partnership!
Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for 2018 from the National
Institute of Food and Agriculture.
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