Organic Corn Breeding for Food and Farm
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute-
East Troy, Wisconsin
Corn is the highest yielding, best-adapted cereal crop in the Midwest. Hitherto, corn has been bred by both private breeders and by the USDA team to be a high-yielding commodity for high-input agriculture. Our project, which involves USDA-ARS, Practical Farmers of Iowa, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, farmers, and seed companies, is taking a breeding approach that is new. We are working to breed and develop varieties and hybrids that increase the nutritional value of corn while increasing its suitability to sustainable farming systems.
While this work may directly help the health of the US consumer and the organic poultry industry, it also has global implications. We might consider the following: In some parts of Africa and Asia corn makes up as much as 80% of the total caloric intake. These people suffer from a lack of high quality protein and Vitamin A. A lack of high quality protein has been implicated in resisting the AIDS epidemic in the area1. A lack of Vitamin A has been the cause of an epidemic of blindness2. The high yielding, disease and pest resistant corn with increased protein and enhanced nutritional value that will be developed in our current project could be useful for breeding corn cultivars adapted to those subtropical areas. The results could eventually help people living under poverty conditions, whether they eat the corn directly or by feeding chickens.
Michael Fields and its partners are seeking funding for this critical research regarding improved corn hybrids for higher yields, new and healthier food products and strengthening public and private corn breeding.
Read Outline - Plan of Work: Replacing Synthetic Methionine in Poultry Diets with High-Methionine Corn
2 World Health Organization. 2008. Vitamin A Deficiency. http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/vad/en/index.html
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute is a public, non-profit institute for education and research in sustainable agriculture, which admits students of any race, color and national or ethnic origin.