By Justin Walker
Communications Specialist
A Texas A&M University soil and crop sciences professor was featured in a report highlighting ways to further develop agriculture in the United States.
Dr. Christine Morgan, an associate professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M, and her team were included in the report for their work on improving the measurement and communication of the value of soil.
Morgan’s research fosters soil health through conservation practices that preserve and promote water quality.
Their work appears in the new report Retaking the Field: Science Breakthroughs for Thriving Farms and a Healthier Nation, which showcases research in the five areas of importance for advancing agriculture—genomics, microbiomes, data and informatics, sensors and transdisciplinary research.
The report was issued by the Supporters of Agriculture Research Foundation (SoAR) and FedByScience, a collaboration of 20 universities across the United States designed to promote public investment in agricultural research.
“Investments in these five science breakthroughs will allow us to achieve a number of broader goals for food and agriculture in the U.S. in the next decade,” Thomas Grumbly, SoAR president, said. “But these advancements aren’t possible without federal funding for the research needed to tackle agriculture’s greatest problems. Farmers are getting hammered right now, and they need innovation to at least soften the blows.”
The five research areas will help researchers conduct innovative agricultural studies to complete the following goals by 2030:
- Reduce water use in agriculture by 20 percent
- Reduce fertilizer use by 15 percent
- Significantly reduce the need for fungicides and pesticides in plant production
- Reduce the incidence of infectious disease epidemics for livestock
- Reduce the incidence of foodborne illnesses by 50 percent
- Increase the availability of new plant varieties and animal products to deliver food with enhanced nutrient content