Washington-The United States has joined 20 other countries to form the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases, an international research collaborative to combat climate change, according to word from USDA officials here. The partnership, formed last month at the climate change talks in Copenhagen, was hailed by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack as a means of focusing global resources on one of the most important international issues of our time. “Just as climate change has no borders, our research should not,” said Vilsack. “No single nation has all of the resources needed to tackle agricultural greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time enhancing food production and food security. We will not only pool our talents and existing resources, but draw new resources and even new scientists.” According to USDA, agriculture climate change mitigation research will be expanded by $90 million, with the findings being contributed to the alliance. The increase will raise USDA’s agricultural climate change mitigation research portfolio to over $130 million over the next four years, up from a base level of funding of just over $10 million in FY 2009. USDA’s enhanced commitment is part of a larger increase on climate change research at the department, boosting the overall investment to more than $320 million in the next four years for climate change mitigation and adaptation research for agriculture.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain