Those involved with bean research will tell you beans are an underdog crop when it comes to funding.
Michigan State University
(MSU) and the
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) seek to change that.
Led by crop and soil sciences professor Jim Kelly, MSU is part of 16-university consortium awarded $4 million to study the nutritional and economic values of beans.
“Beans
are an important crop here in Michigan,” says Kelly, who focuses
primarily on genetics. “Part of this grant will be getting nutrition
information out to consumers and recognizing the importance of this
crop.”
Kelly’s research group is in the
beginning phases of planting 400 different varieties of beans to study
their nutritional qualities and developing more weather-resistant
varieties. His goal is to sequence a bean genome to maximize these two
aspects.
“This hasn’t been done in any great detail,” he says.
This latest grant is the third USDA grant given to MSU in the past two years in the area of specialty crops.
Some
of the common beans being studied include navy, pinto and kidney beans. Evidence shows beans are rich in fiber and protein and studies show that eating beans can also reduce blood cholesterol and sugar
levels.
Source: Jim Kelly, Michigan State University
Writer: Andy Balaskovitz
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