Biotech Updates

Plant Research Funding Crucial for the Future

June 8, 2012

Scientists Wolf Frommer of Carnegie Institution for Science and Tom Brutnell of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center published an opinion paper in the June issue of The Scientist, calling the scientific community for a 10-year commitment of $100 billion for plant science research.

"Today, we face growing and economically empowered nations, energy-intensive global economies, and major shifts in global climate that together constitute the perfect storm for agriculture," Frommer and Brutnell say. "Yet plant-science research has been underfunded for decades—and funding is projected to shrink."

With the Food and Agriculture Organization's 2012 estimate that about 920 million people lack sufficient food to meet the recommended daily caloric intake goals, plant research should be invested and strengthened to be able to achieve the 70% required increase in food production by 2050. Investments in plant science will also benefit the fuel industry and improve social and political stability in developing nations.

See the news article at  http://carnegiescience.edu/news/plant_research_funding_crucial_future.