WASHINGTON – The US Dept. of Agriculture announced more than $30 million in funding for research projects with $15.1 million earmarked for projects that will address problems such as food safety in processing plants and antimicrobial resistance. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture made the awards through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI).

“Science, technology, and innovation are essential to meeting virtually every challenge our nation faces, which is why the Administration has consistently supported increasing Federal investments in R&D,” Dr. John P. Holdren, President Obama’s science and technology advisor and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in a statement. “Further strengthening our investments in agricultural research will be essential for US farmers to be able to keep the nation’s food supply abundant, healthy, reliable, and sustainable through the 21st century.”

 
The grants were awarded in sub-programs of the AFRI Food Safety program, which works to protect consumers from microbial and chemical contaminates in the food chain. In the Enhancing Food Safety through Improved Processing Technologies sub-program, the Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, received $1 million; North Dakota State Univ. in Fargo received $147,958 and Washington State Univ. in Pullman received $1,000,000.

Grants in the Effective Mitigation Strategies for Antimicrobial Resistance sub-program went to:

• Gettysburg College, $128,599
• Iowa State Univ., $999,346
• Mississippi State Univ., $149,936
• Montana State Univ., $149,514
• State Univ. of New York, $999,921
• Texas A&M Univ., $1,000,000

Improving Food Safety:

• Univ. of California-Riverside, $468,026
• Univ. of Connecticut, $142,463
• Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, $474,959
• Cornell Univ., $474,993
• Univ. of Idaho - Moscow $474,864
• Illinois Institute of Technology, $475,000
• Univ. of Massachusetts, $473,628 and $473,380
• Michigan State Univ., $474,948
• North Carolina State Univ., $115,702
• Purdue Univ., $308,570
• Univ. of Wisconsin, $474,973

Improving Food Quality

• Univ. of California-Davis, $468,839
• Cornell Univ., $245,233 and $469,958
• Kansas State Univ., $469,366
• Univ. of Kentucky, $149,999
• Univ. of Maine, $149,880
• Univ. of Maryland, $469,470
• Univ. of Massachusetts, $469,775
• Purdue Univ., $427,025 and $30,000
• Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn., $470,000
• Utah State Univ., $297,452
• Univ. of Vermont, $143,154
• Washington State Univ., $456,847