Safe and Abundant:
WSU Helps the World Feed Itself
From Afghanistan and Argentina to Yemen and Zambia, WSU researchers are at work in the world’s fields, forests, and villages, helping people in developing countries make the most of their resources. WSU agricultural, economic, and natural resource scientists are currently at work, as researchers, advisors, and trainers, in 17 countries. As Chris Pannkuk, director of WSU International Programs, points out, "We at WSU should be proud that we have so much to offer around the world."
Iraq
Agriculture is the second largest contributor to the Iraqi national economy and employs one-quarter of the workforce. WSU has recently partnered with a number of other universities to help rebuild Iraq’s agricultural capabilities. The project, funded by a $5.2 million USDA grant, will develop and provide training programs for Iraqi nationals to enhance the management, production and marketing for small and medium agricultural enterprises.
John Winder, associate dean and director of WSU Extension, calls the project “an excellent opportunity to help the Iraqis develop a viable and sustainable economy.”
Chris Pannkuk explains that WSU will focus on dryland cropping systems, for wheat, barley, millets and legumes grown in Iraq. Bill Pan, chair of the WSU Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, said the project will engage many faculty in the department. “Our faculty will provide the expertise… that supports dryland cropping systems in wheat management, variety testing, soil fertility and conservation tillage, for example,” he said.
India
Naidu Rayapati, a virologist at WSU’s Prosser Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center, is working to improve India’s integrated pest management capacity to fight insect-borne viral diseases in major vegetable crops grown in India. Integrated pest management is a pest-control strategy that explores alternatives to traditional pesticides, which can be both expensive and toxic if not properly handled.
Farmers in India grow a wide variety of vegetables including tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, eggplant, onions and other leafy vegetables, according to Rayapati, a native of southern India. "Vegetable production plays a key role in food security and poverty reduction in rural India," he said.
He will train visiting Indian scientists in his lab on various aspects of plant virology and help organize a training course for capacity building in India. "One of the long-term objectives is to build stronger relationships between the Indian and U.S. scientific community and explore additional opportunities for research, technology exchange and capacity building."
Rayapati is no stranger to international collaborations, having worked on projects in Asia and Africa. "I am trying my best to contribute to international agriculture and in the process bring visibility and recognition to our institution and true meaning to the slogan ‘World Class. Face to Face,'" Rayapati said.
Somalia
Mike Hackett, a recently retired Extension agent who is now a WSU professor emeritus, is working with a group of African-American and Somalian businessmen to make war-torn Somalia a “safer, better place.”
Hackett has traveled to Kenya and Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, to consult for a Somalian company, Urur, founded in 2000. Urur markets beef and dairy products throughout the Middle East. Urur owns a farm outside Mogadishu, as well as the only dairy in Somalia. Somalia has long been a livestock country, Hackett told the Capital Press, and “Urur is helping to restore that.”
Urur founders Eric Evans, Rashid Mohamed and George Vallery, says Hackett, believe that prosperity will help bring peace to the region.
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Working with Hackett and International Programs director Chris Pannkuk, Urur established an agreement with WSU that enables wide ranging support for the company. Hackett has traveled to Dubai to inspect Urur’s cattle and goat holdings and to offer insights on best management practices. Dubai is a major trading center in the Middle East, and Urur drives its cattle there for distribution throughout the region. Urur beef has even fed U.S. troops in Iraq. Hackett’s also traveled to Kenya, where he met with Urur’s veterinarian as well as the Somalian Minister of Agriculture. Urur principals Vallery and Mohamed traveled to Washington this past year, where Hackett introduced them to scientists in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition for advice about dairy production. WSU researchers have also tested cattle forage for the company.
Urur “is not about profit as a bottom line,” says Hackett, “but to help Somalia as well.” The company has built an orphanage in its community, is building a mosque on its farm, and provides training and educational opportunities for its employees.
Other Horizons
WSU scientists are continually working to improve the global supply of food, whether it’s by developing new plant varieties that produce higher yields, use fewer inputs (fertilizers, pesticides and water), or provide better nutrition.
Improving the nutrition and shelf-life of cassava is the target of an $8.3 million grant from the Gates Foundation. Post-harvest physiologist John Fellman, a professor in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, is working to answer the question, Why does cassava root begin to lose its nutritional value within 72 hours of being harvested?
Cassava feeds more than 500 million people and as a food staple ranks fourth in the world, behind only rice, sugar, and corn. Originating in South America, cassava is now produced throughout the tropics where it can be grown in poor soils and drought conditions.
Fellman said, “We’ll be looking at an oxidizer that renders what little protein exists in the root indigestible almost immediately.” Understanding cassava’s loss of nutritional value may lead to an improved variety which would benefit millions of people.
Plant dwarfing is one of the genetic strategies being explored by B.W. Poovaiah and his team of researchers in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. By altering a specific gene, Poovaiah and research associate Liqun Du were able to grow dwarf plants. The potential uses of dwarf plants are enormous, including in space, where they’d provide oxygen and fresh food on long voyages, as well as in ornamental horticulture and home gardens.
But the biggest impact would likely be in large-scale agriculture, where dwarf plants “could be a potent tool against world hunger,” said Poovaiah. “Dwarf plants use less water and are more resistant to wind and rain damage. They devote a greater portion of their energy to producing seeds or fruit rather than stems and leaves.”
For more information about WSU and research in food production, food security, and sustaining natural resources, please visit the International Research and Development Web site.