A special focus of the Hot Topics Seminar featured the Peanut & Mycotoxin Innovation Lab (PMIL) by James Rhoads, assistant director. The PMIL applies innovative science to improve peanut production and use, raise awareness on nutrition, and increase food safety in developing countries. Today there are 925 million people who suffer from chronic hunger and demand for food is projected to increase by 50 percent over the next 20 years. The response from the USAID is “Feed the Future” which includes food security innovation centers like PMIL through the legume productivity. You may wonder, “Why Peanuts?” Peanuts are highly nutritious, valuable as a legume in cereal systems, often a woman’s crop and drought tolerant. There are several components of PMIL’s research portfolio including improved peanut varieties, mycotoxin management, seed production, post-harvest handling and processing and market opportunities. Additional information on the components of PMIL is available in additional blog posts regarding genomics with Peggy Ozias-Akins and technologies with Bob Kemerait. Information is also available online at: http://pmil.caes.uga.edu.

View presentation: Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Peanut Productivity and Mycotoxin Control
View presentation: PMIL Efforts in Peanut Value Chain Research: Lessons and Opportunities from Experience in Haiti

Video from Georgia Farm Monitor on the Peanut & Mycotoxin Innovation Lab.