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University of California in Davis Gets Grant to Start New Agriculture Program

Posted on: Friday, 8 July 2005, 18:00 CDT

Jul. 8--One of the largest private gifts ever made for the study of "sustainable agriculture" -- a $1.5 million endowment from the Michigan-based Kellogg Foundation to UC Davis -- will propel the university's research to the forefront of growing more food with fewer chemicals, officials announced this week.

The Kellogg endowment will help the University of California at Davis launch a new Agricultural Sustainability Institute to expand research and teaching of more earth-friendly, natural and organic farming practices. Kellogg also committed $285,000 over three years for UC Davis to host national symposiums for academic leaders in the field.

"The interest in sustainable farming is broadening tremendously," said Neal Van Alfen, dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. "The commodity groups recognize this. The food companies also see the advantages of learning new farming practices that reduce reliance on pesticides...We are not going to survive in California without learning to do it this way," he said.

The announcement coincided with a new UC survey indicating that only 2 percent of the university system's agriculture funding specifically targets organic farming.

The endowment -- a one-time gift that provides a large annual interest payment in perpetuity -- will breathe fresh life into an emerging arena of agricultural research that traditionally lags for money, experts say, because it produces few tangible industry products.

The gift also gives instant credibility to the institute, helping with an international search soon to begin for its first director, Van Alfen said.

Combining existing programs with additional funding from the state will provide the institute a budget greater than $1 million annually, he said, giving UC Davis a national edge among universities defining, studying and teaching sustainable farming.

"We believe UC Davis' effort in this arena is significant," said Jacquelynne Borden-Conyers, spokeswoman for the $6.8 billion Battle Creek, Mich., foundation, which was founded 75 years ago by cereal industry giant Will Keith Kellogg.

Noting the foundation's traditional support for food initiatives, she said, "We looked at (UC Davis) as a leader among land grant colleges and thought it was important to do that."

Advocates of sustainable farming say conventional, chemically-intensive agriculture has greatly increased crop yields, but contributes to the depletion of topsoil, contamination of groundwater and the disintegration of rural communities as millions of family farms have disappeared.

Supporters, many of them organic farmers, tout sustainable methods that include less plowing and discing, crops planted specifically to replenish soil nutrients and use of predatory insects instead of chemicals to fight crop pests. Many also advocate that farmers consider better conditions for farm workers and consumer health and safety issues.

The UC Davis campus already houses the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, a $400,000 statewide program established in 1987, which will now become part of the sustainability institute.

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Source: The Sacramento Bee

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