The U.S. Department of Agriculture last month announced an investment of more than $5.2 million to be divided between 11 universities for nanotechnology research.
The awards come from the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, a grant program for fundamental and applied agricultural sciences. The announcement reflects President Barack Obama’s 2017 budget asking for full funding of the initiative for projects like this one.
"In the seven years since the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative was established, the program has led to true innovations and ground-breaking discoveries in agriculture to combat childhood obesity, improve and sustain rural economic growth, address water availability issues, increase food production, find new sources of energy, mitigate the impacts of climate variability and enhance resiliency of our food systems, and ensure food safety,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. “Nanoscale science, engineering, and technology are key pieces of our investment in innovation to ensure an adequate and safe food supply for a growing global population.”
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