U.S. funding cuts force scaling back of international agricultural research

Federal cuts to U.S. international development funding have led to the curtailing or closure of many global agricultural research projects, the New York Times reports, after the Trump administration dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development (U.S.A.I.D.). Until last year U.S.A.I.D.

sent about $150 million a year to universities, companies and international research centers as part of the Feed the Future initiative. About a third of that agricultural science budget went to 17 labs at U.S. universities; all but one received stop-work orders when the administration froze and later eliminated development spending.

The University of Illinois soybean “innovation lab” was shuttered and 30 staff laid off, which its director described as "lights-off in an instant." Other programs, including dozens of livestock studies at the University of Florida, also lost funding, while Kansas State’s climate-resilient cereals lab kept year-to-year support after intervention by Senator Jerry Moran.

The withdrawal has widened gaps at international research institutions that rely on public funding. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) reported a roughly $60 million shortfall, prompting greater outreach from Chinese entities and a one-time $32 million pledge from the State Department from a fund aimed at countering Chinese influence.

Key Topics

Science, Usaid, Cimmyt, Kansas State, China