A research team led by a Michigan State University scientist Sieg Snapp and funded with a $1.49-million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced yesterday that they will study the potential benefits of introducing a new type of crop cultivation to farms in the nations of Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mali and Tanzania.
“The idea is that if we could introduce a type of grain that grew for around 11 months, then regrew after harvest and continued to do that for several years, it would need less labor and allow for more sustainable agriculture in Africa,” Snapp, a professor in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, said in a statement.
Snapp, who has been researching perennial grains in Michigan for years called the two-year study “kind of a pilot project,” and the first step in what she said she hopes is a longer project. “This is something I’ve wanted to do all my life — to bring new options to farmers in Africa,” Snapp said. “I was very excited to receive this grant. Bringing this team together to test this concept, it’s what agronomy should be about: testing new options for agriculture.” To read more, click HERE.
