KSU Lands Grant for Crop Yield Research

By Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — The U.S. Agency for International Development pledged up to $50 million over the next five years for research led by Kansas State University to raise agricultural productivity while moderating environmental tradeoffs.

The infusion of USAID funding guaranteed continuation of Kansas State’s work in the field of “sustainable intensification,” which calls on researchers to develop methods and technologies of increasing crop yield without cultivating more land. A challenge for scholars is to advance production on an international scale while making farming more resilient to climate change and extreme weather in regions of the planet with distinct management practices.

The USAID grant promised to continue a 10-year research initiative at K-State fueled by $75 million in financing that ran out earlier this year. That sustainability research at KSU concentrated on climate adaptation and mitigation, resource use, soil fertility management and other objectives.

“I think what this new award shows is USAID’s trust in Kansas State University, as well as our commitment to our program and what we are capable of doing,” said Vara Prasad, an agronomy professor and director of agriculture innovation laboratory.

The new five-year grant could be renewed for an additional $50 million and five years based on documented progress and availability of funds from Congress. K–State‘s support from USAID to study sustainable intensification over a 20-year period could top $175 million, officials said.

The project would include partnerships with Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Senegal and Tanzania. Each country would serve as a test bed for sustainable farm practices. The bottom line is to make the world’s farmers more efficient, productive, profitable and equitable.

Dina Esposito, a USAID deputy coordinator of the Feed the Future program, announced the grant recently during the World Food Prize program in Des Moines, Iowa.

“The Feed the Future innovation lab network, including these newly funded labs, will advance technology development and draw on the expertise of top U.S. universities and host country research institutions to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges in agriculture and food security,” she said.

Prasad said the challenge and potential of the USAID-funded research could be illustrated by considering that Kansas had a thriving agricultural economy despite variables in soil, rain and temperature from western to eastern regions of the state.

“When it comes to resilience in farming, Kansas is the place,” Prasad said. “What we learn from other countries is going to be extremely valuable for Kansas and other places around the country and world.”

Prasad said the previous decade of sustainable intensification research at Kansas State supported about 120 organizations, 150 researchers, 275 students and 40,000 farmers.

“We want to make a positive impact, change the lives of people and then make sure it’s done right so that they also develop the passion to help others,” he said.

In addition to USAID funding to Kansas State, the agency said a program led by Washington State University could receive up to $35 million over the next five years for development and use of veterinary vaccines for livestock that could help with global hunger and poverty.

USAID earmarked funding for coffee research at Cornell University and studies of chicken disease and breeding at the University of Florida and the University of California at Davis.

Launched in July 2020, Kansas Reflector is an affiliate of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, supported by grants and donations. Kansas Reflector retains full editorial independence.