20-million dollars to study climate change and cereal production in the PNW

20-million dollars to study climate change and cereal production in the PNW

Farm and Ranch February 21, 2011 The USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has announced a 20-million dollar grant to the three Pacific Northwest land grant universities to study the effects of climate change on cereal grain production. The research effort will be led by the University of Idaho with partners Washington State University, Oregon State University and the USDA Agricultural Research Service.

Entomologist Sanford Eigenbrode of the U of I heads up the five year project which he says will employ experimentation, observation and novel modeling approaches.

Eigenbrode: “Our goal is to deliver increased carbon storage, nitrogen use efficiency and stabilize the resilience of these systems to climate variation.”

Eigenbrode, who spoke at a Moscow, Idaho news conference Friday, says the project is multidisciplinary.

Eigenbrode: “Agronomy, cropping systems research, climate science and modeling, rural sociology, agricultural economics, entomology, plant pathology, plant physiology, weed science, atmospheric monitoring, soil ecology and education and extension and the science of data management to address this challenge. We will include traditional and innovative electronic means to involve stakeholders and extend the project to ensure effective adoption.”

Eigenbrode says the work begins right away and farmers should stay in contact with the project through a web-interface that is being developed.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on Northwest Aginfo Net.

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