"US 'plans cut to global agricultural research funds'"

Source: Science via SciDev.Net, 22 April 2008.

Lead: "Despite rising food prices and restrictions on food exports the United States is planning to cut funding to international agricultural research, scientists claim." The article continues: "In February this year officials from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) warned that a cut in funding was likely. The actual figure is yet to be announced, but it could be as much as 75 per cent according to a spokesperson from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)."

Read the original article: "INTERNATIONAL AID:As Food Prices Rise, U.S. Support for Agricultural Centers Wilts" by Dennis Normile, Science 18 April 2008: Vol. 320. no. 5874, p. 303.

"You couldn't ask for worse timing," says Robert Zeigler, director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, Philippines. "Part of the reason we're having this deterioration of the global agricultural situation is that there has been a steady erosion of support for research." IRRI has put a freeze on hiring and is holding back on planned research investments until the budget is confirmed.

Comment: This is unbelievable! Take action now to reverse this stupid decision. JAD

Ironically, this week there is an editorial in Science magazine by Nina Federoff, the Science Adviser for both the State Department and USAID which states:

Demand for plant products has never been greater. More people, rising affluence, and expanding biofuels programs are rapidly pushing up the prices of grain and edible oil. Boosting supply isn't easy: All the best farm land is already in use. There's an acute need for another jump in global agricultural productivity--a second Green Revolution. Can it happen? Will it happen?

Comment: Since Dr. Federoff is the Science Adviser to both the Secretary of State and the Administrator of USAID. I hope she can make her concern for agricultural research effective in restoring funding for the International Agricultural Research Centers! JAD

If you are an agricultural scientist, click here to sign a petition to oppose the budget cut for international agricultural research!