The HarvestPlus Challenge Program of the CGIAR seeks to mitigate micronutrient malnutrition and its devastating health consequences, especially in developing countries, by boosting micronutrient content in food crops. Yet, few realize that micronutrient deficiency is also a problem in developed countries such as the United States. In fact, scientists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) have been working on micronutrients for decades. Whether isolating a gene for beta-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A, from an orange-colored cauliflower, or determining the impact of zinc deficiency on human health, USDA-ARS research has much to offer HarvestPlus.

USDA-ARS and HarvestPlus scientists have been working together for many years to conduct basic research related to micronutrients, biofortification and their impact on nutrition. The results of this collaboration can potentially be leveraged to develop solutions to micronutrient malnutrition worldwide. This past January, HarvestPlus and USDA-ARS scientists held a 2-day seminar and workshop at USDA headquarters near Washington, DC, to share what they had learned so far and to explore opportunities for further collaboration.

Pai-Yei Whung, director of the Office of International Programs at USDA-ARS, welcomed participants to the event. "Our goal is to facilitate international collaboration on mutually beneficial, high-priority research such as nutrition," she said in her opening remarks.

More than a dozen scientists then made technical presentations linking their work with the global biofortification effort. HarvestPlus researchers presented a case study on biofortified maize. They highlighted problems in screening, breeding and assessing the bioavailability of micronutrients in the maize. Workshop participants also identified priorities for future collaborative research.

"We now have a much better idea of how to strengthen our links to USDA-ARS during the next phase of HarvestPlus," said Howarth Bouis, director of HarvestPlus. "Some exciting and highly relevant research is under way at USDA that we have not tapped into, particularly in the area of human nutrition. For example, compounds that promote nutrient bioavailability and have other health-promoting properties are being studied in several USDA laboratories across the United States. USDA has discovered temperate varieties of some crops being targeted by HarvestPlus that may have high levels of these compounds and micronutrients. These traits could be bred into their tropical relatives to create biofortified crops. The challenge will be to identify and prioritize the most promising avenues for research in partnership with USDA."

A CD-ROM of the HarvestPlus and USDA-ARS workshop and seminar proceedings is available from HarvestPlus. Contact Bonnie McClafferty (B.McClafferty@CGIAR.org).