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United Kingdom
February 2008
£7M of new research is being launched to tackle some of the most
damaging and widespread pests, diseases and harsh environmental
conditions which can devastate crop yields across the developing
world. Three out of four poor people in developing countries
live in rural areas and most depend on agriculture for their
livelihoods. Increasing agricultural productivity will benefit
millions through higher incomes, more and cheaper food, and more
jobs in both rural and urban areas.
The new funding includes £340k over four years to Dr Lesley Boyd
at the John Innes Centre to
identify genetic resistance to a disease threatening African
crops. Stem rust has the potential to wipe out 40-70% of wheat
yields and has already caused a painful spike in wheat prices.
For farmers who cannot afford to use expensive fungicides,
resistance is the only defence.
The Biotechnology and
Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the
Department for International Development (DFID) are unveiling 12
new projects as part of their flagship initiative – Sustainable
Agriculture Research for International Development (SARID) - to
harness the UK’s world class bioscience research base to address
the challenges of agriculture and food security in developing
countries.
The new projects will look at how a variety of crops – from
maize to coconuts, rice to bananas – respond at a molecular
level to hostile factors including attack by pests and diseases
as well as inclement conditions. Their findings will offer new
and exciting opportunities to develop crops better able to
survive and thrive in their changing environments. Such advances
in crop science could revolutionise the way farmers are able to
farm across the developing world and have a significant impact
on reducing poverty.
Commenting on the new research, Gareth Thomas, Parliamentary
Under Secretary of State for International Development and
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, said: "Investing in
science and research is essential to provide poor farmers with
the seeds, knowledge and tools they need to make a better life
for themselves. This research, bringing together UK, African and
Asian scientists, has the potential to revolutionise farming in
the developing world and reduce global poverty. The UK is
delighted to support this initiative."
Welcoming the new research, Ian Pearson, Minister for Science
and Innovation, said: "This is a true demonstration of how
scientific research can help find solutions to the major
challenges facing the world and improve the quality of life for
millions in developing countries."
BBSRC Interim Chief Executive, Steve Visscher, said: “Bioscience
research can make a vital contribution to improving sustainable
agriculture across the globe. These projects will build on the
world-leading research on fundamental plant science and plant
disease in the UK and apply this to crops of importance in the
developing world, increasing yields and helping to alleviate the
suffering of millions living in poverty.”
All of the projects unveiled today involve unique partnerships
between UK scientists and researchers from institutions in
Africa, Asia and elsewhere.
Details of all the projects being funded by the new initiative
are available in a media briefing at
http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/media/briefings/080221_sarid.pdf.
Examples include:
Halting armyworm rampage
with biological pesticide - the African armyworm is a
major migratory insect pest, which feeds voraciously on
cereal crops. Using a radical new solution, researchers from
the UK, Canada and Tanzania will investigate the use of a
naturally occurring virus in armyworms with a view to using
it as a biological pesticide.
.
Defeating witchweed famine threat - subsistence crops
relied on by billions are at constant risk of attack by the
noxious parasitic plant witchweed. Researchers the UK, India
and Senegal are identifying ways to protect the livelihoods
of some of the world's poorest farmers by developing
resistant crops.
Improving food security for 500M people - Pearl
millet provides food security for half a billion people in
Africa and Asia. The crop is well adapted to harsh
environments but climate change is threatening the
predictable yields that subsistence farmers rely on.
Scientists from the UK, India and Ghana will work to improve
pearl millet’s genetic tolerance to drought.
Fighting nematode worms with fungus - Root-knot
nematodes are microscopic worms that feed on plant roots,
stunting their growth and causing yield losses of US$70
billion each year. UK scientists and their Kenyan colleagues
are harnessing a natural soil fungus to destroy the worms'
eggs reducing damage to crops.
Reducing arsenic levels in rice - arsenic
contamination of rice paddies is a major problem in many
parts of Asia, caused by irrigation with arsenic
contaminated groundwater, pollution resulting from base and
precious metal mining and the use of municipal solid waste
as fertilizer. Researchers from the UK, India, Bangladesh
and China will look at types of rice which have lower
take-up levels of inorganic arsenic to unravel the genetic
basis for this desirable characteristic.
BBSRC and DFID announced the SARID
initiative in 2006 to foster high-quality research that will
contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals for
combating the eight major problems faced by the developing world
including poverty and starvation.
The research announced today is the first from this initiative.
A second grant round, focussing on animal health will be
announced later in 2008.
Full background information about SARID is available at:
http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/funding/opportunities/2007/sustainable_agriculture.html
UK Universities and Institutes involved in the new projects are:
Central Science Laboratory
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research
John Innes Centre
National Institute of Agricultural Botany
Rothamsted Research
University of Aberdeen
University of Cambridge
University of Greenwich
University of Lancaster
University of Leeds
University of Nottingham
University of Sheffield
University of Warwick
About BBSRC
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council is
the UK funding agency for research in the life sciences.
Sponsored by Government, BBSRC annually invests around £380M in
a wide range of research that makes a significant contribution
to the quality of life for UK citizens and supports a number of
important industrial stakeholders including the agriculture,
food, chemical, healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.
http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk
About DFID
The Department for International Development is leading the
British Government's fight against world poverty.
http://www.dfid.gov.uk
DFID has allocated £200m over five years to fund its Strategy
for Research on Sustainable Agriculture which was launched in
March 2006. Support to SARID falls under this strategy.
Details of the Strategy for Research on Sustainable Agriculture
and other areas of DFID funded research can be found on DFID’s
research portal: www.research4development.info/
The 2006 White Paper “Eliminating World Poverty: Making
Governance work for the poor” includes a commitment to double
funding on research including agriculture.
Extreme poverty affects 1.3 billion people around the world who
live on less than $1 a day. Three billion people live on less
than $2 a day (source: UN). |
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