NIFA supports the latest plant breeding, genetics, and genomics research to ensure that U.S. agriculture is prepared to meet the grand challenges facing the world. Innovation in agricultural production is key to producing more food with less impact on the environment.
Agriculture of the future will be enabled by genome design, innovative breeding methods, data analysis, and knowledge of molecular and biological processes. Breeding crops for the future will require new traits, breeding platforms built for quick transfer of traits to elite cultivars, coordination of breeding efforts in public and private domains, and training for current and future plant breeders and researchers
The Plant Breeding, Genetics & Genomics Program portfolio is responsive to stakeholder needs for increased productivity by providing agricultural plants with higher inherent genetic potential. The intention of NIFA’s Plant Breeding, Genetics & Genomics efforts is to improve the production efficiency, yield, sustainability, resilience, healthfulness, product quality, and value of U.S. agricultural plants. Click here for further information on Plant Breeding Research at USDA.
Funded Projects
- Plant Breeding for Agricultural Production (A1141)
- Conventional Plant Breeding for Cultivar Development (A1143)
- Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative (AG2PI)
- Physiology of Agricultural Plants (A1152)
- Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI)
- Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (113.A)
- Foundational Knowledge of Plant Products (A1103)
- Data Science for Food and Agricultural Systems (DSFAS) (A1541)
- Agricultural Innovation through Gene Editing (A1191)
- Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research Grants Program (HX)
- Canola Research (HW)
- Potato Research (AN)
- Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage System Program (AFRP)
- Economic and Social Implications of Food and Agricultural Technologies (A1642)
Program Specific Resources
- Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Programs
- Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative
- Specialty Crop Research Initiative
- Organic Programs
- Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research Grants Program
- Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage System Program
- Potato Research
- Supplemental and Alternative Crops
News
- Sensing What Plants Sense: Integrated Framework Helps Scientists Explain Biology and Predict Crop Performance
- Securing Plant Genebank Collections and Providing Educational Resources for Training Opportunities
- Scientists Make Wheat Gene Discovery
- Research to Develop Cranberry Cultivars with Less Added Sugar
- Delicious and Disease-free: Scientists Attempting New Citrus Varieties
- Drought Tolerant Peanut Breeding
- Newly Discovered Trait Helps Plants Grow Deeper Roots in Dry, Compacted Soils
- Decline in Plant Breeding Programs Could Impact Food Security
- Under the Hood: How Environment and Genomes Interact in Plant Development
Highlights
- Development and Optimization of a Barley Stripe Mosaic Virus- Mediated Gene Editing System to Improve Fusarium Head Blight Resistance in Wheat
- Metabolomic Selection for Enhanced Fruit Flavor
- Oklahoma Team Discovers a Wheat Gene that Increases Grain Yield
- Development of a Practical Haplotype Graph for Wheat
- Multistate W3150: Breeding Better Beans
- Big Data Driven Agriculture
- A Road Map for Conservation, Use, and Public Engagement around North America's Crop Wild Relatives and Wild Utilized Plants
- Training in Plant Genetic Resources Management: A Way Forward
- Breeding Crops for Enhanced Food Safety
Related Funding Opportunities
- Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative
- Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Foundational and Applied Science Program
- Supplemental and Alternative Crops (SAC)
- Potato Breeding Research
- Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Education and Workforce Development