By SUSAN MYKRANTZ
Ohio Correspondent

WOOSTER, Ohio — Think locally, but act globally, is more than a cliché, but sometimes a research project to solve a local project can have a beneficial impact on a community half-a-world away.

For example, a USDA grant-funded project to produce a flood-resistant variety of rice had minimal benefit to U.S. rice growers. But in a country like Bangladesh, where there rice crop is often planted 4 or 5 times a season due to flooding, this research project had an enormous impact on the country’s food security.

This is an example of the direction where researchers should focus the scope of their research for a successful grant application through the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, according to Dr. Colien Hefferan, Senior Advisor to the Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA.

Hefferin discussed the grant criteria for interested researchers and graduate students attending the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center’s annual research conference.

She said that many times, projects funded through the institute’s grant program are geared towards U.S. projects, the research often has a global impact.

Hefferin added that, in the past, projects tended to focus on a single area or discipline.

However, that is changing as grant applications are focusing on combining multiple disciplines in the project and focusing on how the research project will benefit society.

Some of the areas that the USDA’s NIFA grants focus on include climate change and its impact on agriculture, with projects looking at adapting and sustaining food production in a changing climate.
“Agriculture and forestry play a tremendous role in reducing the impact of changing climates on food production systems and the environment,” said Hefferin.

Research on bioenergy and finding new sources of feedstock for biofuels will also help increase the sustainability of agriculture and agricultural production.

“Farming and farm commodities will be more sustainable when we reduce the need for fossil fuels,” she said.

Hefferin said that health and nutrition are becoming increasingly important areas of research, particularly in the areas of reducing childhood obesity and developing a more interesting and accessible food system for consumers.

For example, funding for a project to develop and market baby carrots and introduce Clementines into the U.S. food system have transformed fruit and vegetables into a fun food for children’s diets.

Hefferin cited studies that show increasing fruits and vegetables in children’s diets plays a key role in reducing childhood obesity.
“The way we breed and make food available is one area where agriculture should focus on to reduce childhood obesity,” she said. “If we focus on what we know about, we might have as much or more influence as trying to change behavior.”

Food safety research is taking a broader approach, going beyond looking at ways to reduce the risk of foodborne pathogens due to harvesting and handling procedures and looking at elements in plant and animal products that are risky.

Hefferin added that less emphasis is being placed on the traditional areas of the farm bill, and more is being placed on multi-disciplinary research and how it benefits society.