USDA joins research collaboration with Ireland and Northern Ireland

A new partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Ireland and Northern Ireland will share research to solve global agriculture-related issues.

“This international partnership offers exciting opportunities to take on issues that must be addressed if we are to meet food security and safety challenges both now and in the future,” Ann Bartuska, USDA deputy under secretary for Research, Education and Economics, said.  “Collaboration among the United States, Ireland, and Northern Ireland spans many decades, and we enthusiastically welcome this new endeavor.” 

Bartuska led the U.S. government delegation that traveled to Dublin to formalize the partnership.

Funding will be provided by the USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, and administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture with additional funding from the Republic of Ireland Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, and from the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The three countries have decided on four main priorities for 2016. They include understanding how plant associated microorganisms and plant-microbes interact; plant-associated insects and nematodes; animal health and disease; and animal nutrition, growth and lactation.