SYNAPSIS, the Plant Breeding and Genetics Graduate Student Organization, organized and hosted the 5th Annual Cornell University Plant Breeding Symposium on Friday, March 11th.
Speakers included Rich Ozminkowski from Kraft Heinz and Reid Rice from DuPont Pioneer. Rich discussed the challenges of growing and processing tomatoes in developing regions as growing middle class consumers adopt more westernized diets. Reid described development of high oleic soybean oil as a replacement for the partially hydrogenated oils typically used in processed foods.
Frank Mangan, UM-Amherst, discussed the opportunities for vegetable breeders presented by food preferences among the growing number of immigrant groups in the northeast. Adam Famoso, LSU, described integration of molecular tools into the rice breeding pipeline. His description of rice cultivation in Louisiana included the very interesting fact that crawfish are used as a “rotation crop” in rice fields! Alison Van Eenennaam, UC-Davis, discussed how developments in animal biotechnology can provide insight into applications of plant biotechnology.
The symposium concluded with Cornell Emeritus Professor and World Food Prize Laureate Per Pinstrup-Andersen’s projections of how expected changes in Asian food demand and nutritional needs influence plant breeding priorities.
The 5th Annual Cornell University Plant Breeding Symposium was sponsored by Dupont Pioneer. See the complete program.