Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics Programs
NIFA supports the latest plant breeding, genetics, and genomics research to ensure that U.S. agriculture is prepared to meet the grand challenges facing the world. Innovation in agricultural production is key to producing more food with less impact on the environment. Agriculture of the future will be enabled by genome design, innovative breeding methods, data analysis, and knowledge of molecular and biological processes. Breeding crops for the future will require new traits, breeding platforms built for quick transfer of traits to elite cultivars, coordination of breeding efforts in public and private domains, and training for current and future plant breeders and researchers
The Plant Breeding, Genetics & Genomics Program portfolio is responsive to stakeholder needs for increased productivity by providing agricultural plants with higher inherent genetic potential. The intention of NIFA’s Plant Breeding, Genetics & Genomics efforts is to improve the production efficiency, yield, sustainability, resilience, healthfulness, product quality, and value of U.S. agricultural plants.
FUNDED PROJECTS
- Foundational Knowledge of Plant Products (A1103)
- Plant Breeding for Agricultural Production (A1141)
- Physiology of Agricultural Plants (A1152)
- Agricultural Innovation through Gene Editing (A1191)
- Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (113.A)
- Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI)
- Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research Grants Program (HX)
- Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative (AG2PI)
- Canola Research (HW)
- Potato Research (AN)
- Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage System Program (AFRP)
- Economic and Social Implications of Food and Agricultural Technologies (A1642)
- Data Science for Food and Agricultural Systems (DSFAS) (A1541)
PROGRAM SPECIFIC RESOURCES
- Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Programs
- Organic Programs
- Specialty Crop Research Initiative
- Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research Grants Program
- Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative
- Potato Research
- Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage System Program
- Supplemental and Alternative Crops
news
- Decline in Plant Breeding Programs Could Impact Food Security
- Newly Discovered Trait Helps Plants Grow Deeper Roots in Dry, Compacted Soils
- Drought Tolerant Peanut Breeding
- Delicious and Disease-free: Scientists Attempting New Citrus Varieties
- Heat Stress-resilient Soybeans
- Disease Resistance in Sugar Pines
- Hemp Crop Genetics
highlights
- New Funding Opportunities
- Breeding Crops for Enhanced Food Safety
- Big Data Driven Agriculture
- A Road Map for Conservation, Use, and Public Engagement around North America's Crop Wild Relatives and Wild Utilized Plants
- Training in Plant Genetic Resources Management: A Way Forward
- Development of Plant Breeding Training Materials
- Idea Factory: The Maize Genomes to Fields Initiative Workshop
- Establishing Best Practices for Germplasm Exchange, Intellectual Property Rights, and Revenue Return to Sustain Public Cultivar Development
other useful links
- Multistate Projects - National Information Management and Support System
- National Association of Plant Breeders (NAPB)
- National Plant Germplasm Coordinating Committee (NPGCC)