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April 22, 2008
Source:
Science via
Sci.DevNet
Despite rising food prices and restrictions on food exports the
United States is planning to cut funding to international
agricultural research, scientists claim.
In February this year officials from the
US Agency for International
Development (USAID) warned that a cut in funding was likely.
The actual figure is yet to be announced, but it could be as
much as 75 per cent according to a spokesperson from the
Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
CGIAR have been told that 2008 USAID funding will prioritise
health issues, leaving little for agriculture.
Science quotes Robert Zeigler, director general of the
International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines, saying, "You couldn't
ask for worse timing. Part of the reason we're having this
deterioration of the global agricultural situation is that there
has been a steady erosion of support for research."
Scientists have set up an online petition, calling for a
reversal in research cuts, which will be sent to members of the
US Congress and USAID administrators. |
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