USDA Dedicates New Cereal Crops Laboratory

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recently dedicated a new laboratory to conduct more in-depth research in barley, oats and other cereal crops. The new facility for the USDA-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) Cereal Crops Research Unit (CRRU) will be located on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus and will house 35 employees that include 7 senior ARS scientists and their staff.

During the dedication ceremonies, ARS associate administrator Antoinette Betschart said that “the laboratory is the country’s only public research facility for evaluating malting barley cultivars based on their quality and usefulness”.

The CRRU aims to do more research to better understand the biochemical processes controlling the conversion of starch into sugars, a crucial trait for malting barleys; to identify health-promoting compounds from oats and barleys; and find ways to prevent serious disease attacks on cereal crops like Fusarium head blight on barley, or rice blast.

For more information, visit http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2007/070405.2.htm