\"The building is an extraordinary step in our interdisciplinary approach of bringing together North Carolina\u2019s agriculture with the great agtech industry across the state.\" <\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The building, said NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson, \u201cis an extraordinary step in our interdisciplinary approach of bringing together North Carolina\u2019s agriculture community with the great agtech industry across the state.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, too, is the initiative. \u201cThe N.C. PSI is a large program to reformulate everything we do in the university that touches plants,\u201d explained Steve Lommel, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences\u2019 associate dean and director for the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service. \u201cIt\u2019s food, it\u2019s animal food, it\u2019s agriculture \u2013 both conventional agriculture and organic agriculture. It\u2019s very broad, but we are being very intentional in trying to create a framework to do science differently than we have in the past,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe idea here is to create different combinations of scientists than would tend to naturally occur to really change agriculture and food in a big, systemic way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Project\u2019s Roots<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nA new CALS dean, Richard Linton, took to the road in 2013 to learn the challenges and opportunities that farmers and other college stakeholders were facing \u2014 and what they expected in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
North Carolina farmers were clear in their message: They were struggling. To remain in business, they needed lasting agricultural solutions \u2013 more resilient crops and better ways to manage those crops from pre-planting through to the marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, experts around the world sounded the alarm that farmers would have to double food production by 2050 to feed a growing global population \u2014 and they would likely have to do that with less land and less water, during a time when climate and weather conditions were changing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time, they said, for a new agricultural revolution \u2014 one that would not only help feed the world but also ensure agricultural sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nTaking on the Challenge<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCALS faculty members seized that challenge. They had the advantage of a strong reputation in plant sciences and in turning new knowledge into solutions that farmers could put to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The university encourages a cross-college, interdisciplinary approach to innovation. Through NC State\u2019s Faculty Excellence Program, Woodson pushed for teams to get out of their disciplinary silos to take on big problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was, though, a significant hurdle: Place matters, and faculty members were working mainly in buildings more than half a century old \u2013 buildings with lots of walls, halls and closed spaces that tended to support a siloed approach to research, teaching and extension. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Place Like No Other<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe state-of-the-art facility researchers need to realize the initiative\u2019s goals would require a significant investment. NC State, along with the state\u2019s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, turned to the state legislature. Lawmakers responded by funding an economic feasibility study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study found that the plant sciences initiative would yield a significant return. In fact, the study said, it could create an opportunity for North Carolina \u201cto be the global hub for advanced plant sciences research and for the application of that research to expanding agricultural productivity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Linton noted, \u201cThere is no other state, region or country that will have what we have right here in North Carolina and at NC State. We have extreme diversity in climates and soils, which allows us to grow more than 90 different crops and plant varieties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe can do all sorts of research here that can mimic locations in the United States and around the world,\u201d he added. \u201cWe have something very special here in North Carolina, and the NC State University Plant Sciences Building and the N.C. PSI will help us take advantage of all the assets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nCommodity group officials and other agricultural leaders planted stakes in 2017 as the college celebrated their contributions to the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n