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NIFA Director Speaks at IR-4 Project Meeting
At this year's IR-4 Project Annual Meeting, NIFA Director Dr. Manjit Misra delivered remarks reinforcing USDA NIFA’s commitment to supporting specialty crop growers through innovative pest management solutions.
Established in 1963, the NIFA-supported Interregional Research Project No. 4 (IR-4) works to identify and register safe and effective crop protection tools for growers who produce specialty crops. Unlike large scale commodity crops, specialty crops often lack the pesticide options needed to combat pest diseases and invasive species due to the high costs associated with developing and registering new products. The IR-4 project helps bridge this gap by conducting field trials and research to generate data required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for pesticide approval.
According to an economic impact study by Michigan State University in 2022, IR-4 contributes $8.97 billion annually to the gross domestic product. Additionally, every $1,000 of public investment in IR-4 results in seven jobs today.
IR-4, whose national project headquarters is at North Carolina State University, has secured over 23,000 pest management product registrations through EPA for food crops and countless others for ornamental crops.
The IR-4 Project is just one of the many ways NIFA leverages the power of the Land-grant University System to bring discoveries from the lab to the land where growers can put them into practice. For information on recent successes, read more in the 2024 Year End Summary.
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Top Left: Dr. Misra, right, is pictured with IR-4 Project Executive Director Dr. Jerry Baron.
Above center: Dr. Misra speaking to IR-4 project directors.
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University of Nevada, Reno Researcher Develops Potential Game-Changing Sorghum Varieties for Dairy Feed and Gluten-Free Human Nutrition
Researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno have unveiled 200 sorghum varieties that could be a game-changer in the food, brewery, dairy feed and biofuel industry. Conducted by a team led by Dr. Melinda Yerka, the preliminary research underscores their exceptional drought tolerance, with some varieties also exhibiting record levels of protein and digestible starch.
The breeding program for the sorghum varieties was established in 2017 at the University’s Experiment Station to develop water-efficient crops suited for the semi-arid western U.S. The varieties the team has developed may now also present farmers in other regions across the globe with an alternative lower-water-use feed for dairy crops.
Yerka is currently focused on securing funding to establish regional on-farm variety testing networks across the western U.S. Her goal is to provide grain samples for the food and brewery industries to develop new products, identify regions that produce stable flavor and quality traits, and assess the impact of organic and regenerative methods on sorghum quality.
Learn more about this work that is supported in part by NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.
Associate Professor Melinda Yerka and her University of Nevada, Reno team have been developing highly nutritious, drought-tolerant sorghum varieties since 2017. Image courtesy of University of Nevada, Reno.
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 Reminder: Using NIFA’s Official Identifier Correctly
The official NIFA identifier is comprised of the USDA logo with NIFA signature lockup. Per NIFA regulations and guidelines, it is expected grantees use NIFA’s official identifier in publications, posters, websites and presentations resulting from their award. The updated official NIFA identifier should be used on all print and digital materials moving forward.
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The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is committed to ensuring that its programs and services are accessible to all individuals, including individuals with disabilities and individuals with limited English proficiency. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in any NIFA event, please contact the appropriate Program staff no later than 10 days prior to the event. To find Program staff by event, please visit the NIFA Calendar of Events. NIFA Language access services, such as interpretation or translation of vital information, will be provided free of charge to limited English proficient individuals upon request. If you need interpretation or translation services please visit NIFA language services or contact Lois Tuttle, Equal Opportunity Specialist, at Lois.Tuttle@usda.gov or (443) 386-9488 no later than 10 days prior to the event.
NIFA’s mission is to invest in and advance agricultural research, education, and Extension that solves societal challenges. NIFA’s investments in transformative science directly support the long-term prosperity and global preeminence of U.S. agriculture. Keep informed about NIFA, USDA, our Land-grant and non-Land-grant university partners, and stakeholders with the NIFA Update. Read past issues online, sign up for email updates or follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @USDA_NIFA, #NIFAImpacts or LinkedIn @usda-nifa.
If you wish to submit a news item or information, send an email to NIFAUpdate.
USDA is an equal opportunity lender, provider, and employer.
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