New research grants to minimize livestock losses to insects and diseases are expected to boost food security. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is handing out the $3 million in grants for the studies under NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI).
“These grants will allow scientists to discover the new tools and technologies necessary to deal with the threats insects and pathogens pose to livestock production in our nation, which ultimately benefit consumers through abundant, affordable food.” said Sonny Ramaswamy, NIFA director.
NIFA made the awards through the AFRI Food Security challenge area, which seeks to increase sustainable food production. Priority was given to projects that will improve prevention, early detection, rapid diagnosis, or recovery from new, foreign, or emerging diseases or arthropods (like fleas and ticks) that have the potential to cause major impacts on food security. NIFA will make additional awards later this spring through the AFRI Food Security challenge area that focus on minimizing crop losses by arthropods and diseases.
The fiscal year 2014 awards are:
Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Miss., $47,464 – To create a portable computer and communication center for training veterinary students, graduate students, practicing veterinarians, and other food production stakeholders to use system dynamics modeling, other forms of stochastic and deterministic modeling and health data management or analysis software to protect livestock from pests and disease.
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, $1,460,000 – Develop knowledge-based integrated approaches to detect, control, and prevent poultry respiratory diseases in the United States through new and improved diagnostic tools, vaccines, and novel preventive measures.
University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt., $1,480,000 – Reduce the impact of new, emerging and foreign pests and diseases to domestic production of cattle, swine and small ruminant foods and byproducts.
The research funded under the grants includes alternatives to antimicrobials, such as improved vaccines, which could lead to a decrease in antimicrobial use and lower the chances for antimicrobial resistance.