An annual report was recently published to highlight the success of the first two years of the BPI, which at the time was receiving $2 million in appropriated funds annually. These funds are allocated each year to support researchers at USDA Agricultural Research Service stations and land grant universities across fifteen states. In conjunction with the release of the annual report, a virtual research forum was held on February 1st which brought 50+ barley researchers and stakeholders together to celebrate the success and to plan for future work under the BPI.
In FY23, an additional $1 million was added to the annual appropriation and the National Barley Improvement Committee will be heading to D.C. in early-March to seek an additional $2.3 million to fully fund the initiative.
The collaborative research venture plans to release a summary report annually, and will use the virtual forum platform each year to facilitate communication across the diverse partnership.
Read the 2022 Barley Pest Initiative Annual Report here: ambainc.org/news-details.php?id=63ed637451544