Purdue University dedicated its $15 million state-of-the-art research facility for automated field phenotyping this week.
Purdue University Dean of Agriculture Jay Akridge says the Indiana Corn and Soybean Innovation Center will bring faculty and students across multiple disciplines together to develop innovative technologies in plant agriculture.
“And our ability to measure and monitor what’s going on with growing crops,” he says. “And ultimately use that information to help us improve breeding programs and ultimately help us improve crops.”
The center is part of Purdue Moves – an initiative announced by Purdue president Mitch Daniels in 2013 to broaden Purdue’s global impact and enhance educational opportunities for students.
Daniels says the center will play a key role in helping meet one of world’s most urgent challenges – providing enough food for a growing global population.
“Feeding a hungry world and doing it in a more economically and environmentally sustainable way is as big of challenge as the world has,” he says. “And we think Purdue can lead it. This facility is really the single best example of why we will lead it.”
The center is supported with a combined $4 million investment from the Indiana Corn Marketing Council and the Indiana Soybean Alliance.
The facility is located on Purdue’s Agronomy Center for Research and Education grounds.
Source: brownfieldagnews.com