This Program is being formed to work on the genomics and biodiversity of feeds and feed resources. Some related work on feed production and utilization is done in the Animal Science for Sustainable Production program.
As world population increases in tandem with our demands, the land on which we depend to feed ourselves remains constant and in many areas, rain is decreasing. Livestock are central to the livelihoods of some one billion of the world’s poorest people, some of who sell livestock products, trade in manure, get jobs in the dairy industry, to mention but a few. Livestock also provide nourishing foods for poor households in urban as well as rural areas. A major challenge is to meet that demand using the same resource base without depleting the environment.