$4.5 M Research Grants to Improve Common Bean Productivity

As part of the US government-wide Feed the Future Initiative, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in coordination with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded research grants totalling $4.5 million to five university-led projects that seek to improve the productivity of the common bean, a main staple produced throughout food insecure areas of the world, including East and Southern Africa.

The five research projects will address two focus core areas: reducing production constraints from soil-borne pathogens, and improving common bean genetic transformation methodologies to hasten the integration of desirable traits into the new varieties. The following projects and research institutions were awarded the said grants: (1) Routine and reproducible transformation system for the common bean (Iowa State University), (2) Developing and delivering common bean germplasm with resistance to the major soil borne pathogens in East Africa (Michigan State University), (3) Development of transgenic beans for broad-spectrum resistance against fungal diseases (University of Nebraska), (4) Genetic approaches to reducing fungal and Oomycete soilborne problems of the common bean breeds in Eastern and Southern Africa (University of Nebraska) and (5) Improving bean yields by reversing soil degradation and reducing soil borne pathogens on small-holder farms in Western Kenya (Cornell University).

Read the USDA press release at http://allafrica.com/stories/201212111025.html.