Food and Agriculture Systems Innovations
K-State researchers will work with producers to transform, sustain and adapt food and agriculture systems worldwide to create jobs here in Kansas and bring billions in national and international investment to the state.
Economic growth and job creation
K-State attracts investment leading to new job opportunities for Kansas graduates through profitable business solutions for the food and agriculture system. Forty-two percent of the state economy is tied to agriculture, and keeping even more of the food system chain in the state is critical for the Kansas economy. K-State also educates and trains both current professionals and students who want a career in Kansas agriculture.
Profitable, regenerative and sustainable food and agriculture systems
Expert interdisciplinary teams will go beyond simply sustaining Kansas food and agriculture systems to help meet the entire world’s challenges and opportunities. K-State researchers will increase food and agriculture producers’ profits and improve plant and animal health through:
- Reduction of diseases and pests.
- Food and feed safety and nutrition.
- Soil health.
- Water and air quality.
- Water availability.
- Biodiversity under climate change.
- Other emerging food system challenges.
Disruptive technology and innovation
Generating knowledge to shape new technologies will continue to be a key mission for K-State. K-State will build the skilled and digitally competent workforce our state needs through industry partnerships, cross-disciplinary research, new degree tracks and targeted industry training programs.
Improving health at home and globally through nutritional security
A healthy workforce is essential to a growing economy. K-State continues to lead the way to nutritional security in our state and worldwide. K-State’s food and agriculture expertise enables existing food systems to deliver nutritious food options, strengthen protein production, advance precision nutrition, enhance nutrient diversity and reduce food waste and loss. We are conducting applied research throughout the produce development cycle meet changing consumer demands for people and animals.
Global food security
K-State takes its food and agriculture systems expertise globally to address food security, food safety, nutrition and agricultural productivity through research and capacity building in many countries and international organizations. Ensuring food security and economic stability around the world also advances economic opportunity and national security for Kansans.
Research facilities
K-State is one of a select few universities with access to a full continuum of biosafety laboratories — BSL-1 through BSL-4 — located on or adjacent to campus. Faculty use these facilities to provide research on food and feed safety as well as the latest in plant disease diagnostics research, surveillance and training in disease vector biology.
Agricultural research and its benefits extend to the state’s 105 counties through K-State Research and Extension’s agriculture research centers, experiment fields and extension services. The wide variations in precipitation, temperature, elevation and soil types throughout Kansas provide a unique testbed for crop production and agricultural systems that can mimic climates on every non-arctic continent.