Jul 27, 2015NPC: Increased funding for potato breeding research
Last week at the request of Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), and other Senators the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $2 million dollars for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) potato breeding research program. This is a $650,000 increase from the last fiscal year. The research focuses on improving potato varieties to address production challenges and to better address consumer preferences. Official funding language from the 2016 Senate Agriculture Appropriations bill is linked here on page 24. You can also view National Potato Council’s original NIFA funding request by clicking here.
The House Appropriations Committee included Report Language in their version of the FY 2016 Agriculture Appropriations Bill supporting the potato breeding research. NPC will continue to work with our congressional supporters to see that the potato breeding funding increase is included in the final FY 2016 spending bill.