UF Part of Multi-Institutional, $22M Cereal Crops Project Funded by USAID

The U.S. Agency for International Development announced the creation of the Feed the Future Climate Resilient Cereals Innovation Lab, or CRCIL, to improve lives around the world by making cereal crops more readily available to those most at risk for hunger and malnutrition.

University of Florida researchers involved will focus on sorghum. Charlie Messina, UF/IFAS horticultural sciences professor — who is a leading expert in applying artificial intelligence to crop modeling and simulation techniques — will head the efforts from the Gainesville campus while utilizing the supercomputing powers of the UF HiPerGator.

In addition to sorghum, the $22 million project led by Kansas State University will investigate breeding advancements for the major world crops of millet, wheat and rice. Other collaborators include Clemson University, Cornell University, Delaware State University and Louisiana State University; and international partners in South Asia, Eastern and Western Africa, and Latin America.

“This project holds so much potential to improve the lives of the world’s poor, spurring social mobility and economic growth,” said Messina, who was just announced as director of the UF Crop Transformation Center. “It’s an honor to have the University of Florida and the HiPerGator as part of this collaborative effort to bring improved crops to those who most need it around the world.”

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