Mar 30, 2016USDA announces $5.2M for nanotechnology research
Universities receiving funding include:
- Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama
- Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, Connecticut
- University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida
- University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia
- Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa
- University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Massachusetts
- Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi
- Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri
- Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia
- University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin
With this funding, Auburn University proposes to improve pathogen monitoring throughout the food supply chain by creating a user-friendly system that can detect multiple foodborne pathogens simultaneously, accurately, cost effectively, and rapidly. Mississippi State University will research ways nanochitosan can be used as a combined fire-retardant and antifungal wood treatment that is also environmentally safe. Experts in nanotechnology, molecular biology, vaccines and poultry diseases at the University of Wisconsin will work to develop nanoparticle-based poultry vaccines to prevent emerging poultry infections. USDA has a full list of projects and longer descriptions available online.
Past projects include a University of Georgia project developing a bio-nanocomposites-based, disease-specific, electrochemical sensors for detecting fungal pathogen induced volatiles in selected crops; and a University of Massachusetts project creating a platform for pathogen detection in foods that is superior to the current detection method in terms of analytical time, sensitivity, and accuracy using a novel, label-free, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) mapping technique.
Since AFRI’s creation, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has awarded more than $89 million to solve challenges related to plant health and production; $22 million of this has been dedicated to nanotechnology research. The President’s 2017 budget request proposes to fully fund AFRI for $700 million; this amount is the full funding level authorized by Congress when it established AFRI in the 2008 Farm Bill.
Since 2009, USDA has invested $4.32 billion in research and development grants. Studies have shown that every dollar invested in agricultural research now returns over $20 to our economy, the USDA said.