Yesterday, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a $180 million investment into the new Seed Sovereignty Initiative. This provides much-needed support for the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS). Dr. Scott Hutchins, USDA Undersecretary for Research, Education, and Economics, said this will allow the U.S. to capitalize on the genetic information within the U.S. seed collection, which has not been fully sequenced.
Dr. Hutchins said modern sequencing also allows for the faster develop of new genetic breakthroughs and helps ensure that the U.S. will never have to rely on foreign competitors for plant genetic resources.
Dr. Hutchins added that the genetic information will become intellectual property of the United States.
For more information, visit usda.gov.
