Useful Links

About this site . . .

Here is a listing of some useful and informative sites. I hope you will find them helpful.


• The Plant Breeding Coordinating Committee Web Site.


The Plant Breeding CC (SCC 080) will be a forum for leadership regarding issues, problems and opportunities of long-term strategic importance to the contribution of plant breeding to national goals.


• Global Partnership Initiative for Plant Breeding Capacity Building.


This web site is the global web site for plant breeding capacity and provides a platform and partnership of public, private and civil society institutions from the South and the North working in concert to promote Plant Breeding capacity building for crop improvement and sustainable development.


• World Food Program Food Force.


This web site is from the United Nations World Food Program. It has numerous facts on hunger and also includes a downloadable game that may appeal to the computer gamers in us all. It was written up in the New York Times as "What Lara Croft Would Look Like if She Carried Rice Bags." by Tina Rosneberg, Dec. 30, 2005.


• The High Plains Observatory for Integrated Phenology: Predicting The Behavior and Life Cycles of Introduced and Native Plants, Insects, and Plant Diseases on the Landscape


Phenology studies the seasonal timing of different developmental stages and the life cycles of plants and animals. Understanding the processes that impact these developmental stages and forecasting phenological stages are important to growers, food processors, crop insurance and seed companies, the commodities markets, and those who enjoy the aesthetics of plants. Similarly, climate change modeling and satellite-based forecasting systems need basic phenology networks and models to interpret their spectral data, especially the “greenness” or photosynthetic response to the environment. In Nebraska and the High Plains region, a phenology network and the resulting models are needed to: 1) simulate alternative crop adaptation and rotations, 2) better target genotypes with value added quality traits to the landscape, 3) improve irrigation water management, 4) design new decision support systems for integrated pest management and organic agroecosystems, forecast insect and plant disease outbreaks, and 5) provide the cyberinfrastructure that can lead to information fusion for complex ecosystems and societies.


• Nebraska Wheat Quality Laboratory


The mission of the Nebraska Wheat Quality Laboratory is to provide maximum economic return to the Nebraska Wheat Producer by developing wheat varieties with end-use quality characteristics which are desired by the domestic and international wheat processing industry.


• Nebraska Crop Improvement Association
  
  The Nebraska Crop Improvement Association is dedicated to enhancing the economic viability and well-being of the people of Nebraska and the world, through value-added products and processes.
  
  
• Nebraska Foundation Seed Division
  
  The Nebraska Foundation Seed Division is a premium supplier of foundation seed to seedsmen in Nebraska and adjacent states. It is dedicated to enhancing the quality of seed sold to farmers and working with seed trade organizations.
  
  
• Market Journal
  
  Market Journal provides you with useful information being developed by the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska.
  
  
• Variety Testing Home Page/University of Nebraska/Department of Agronomy
  
  Variety Testing compares hybrids and varieties of corn, soybean, grain sorghum, wheat and spring grain at multiple sites across Nebraska.
  
  
• Agricultural Research Service/United States Department of Agriculture
  
  As the in-house research arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Agricultural Research Service has a mission to: Provide access to agricultural information and develop new knowledge and technology needed to solve technical agricultural problems of broad scope and high national priority to ensure adequate availability of high-quality, safe food and other agricultural products to meet the nutritional needs of the American consumer, to sustain a viable and competitive food and agricultural economy, to enhance quality of life and economic opportunity for rural citizens and society as a whole, and to maintain a quality environment and natural resource base.
  
  
• International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
  
  CIMMYT's research and training strategies are firmly grounded in the three overriding goals of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) - the alleviation of poverty, protection of natural resources, and sustainable food security. These goals are addressed through research aimed at the development of more efficient, more robust maize and wheat germplasm, through natural resource and economics research designed to enhance the sustainability of maize- and wheat-based production systems, and through a range of related research and training activities.
  
  
• Kansas State University Research and Extension/The Wheat Page
  
  Mission of The Wheat Page
  • to bring together KSU electronic information about wheat into one place
    
  • to provide convenient access to comprehensive information about wheat in Kansas and the USA
    
  • to serve producers, processors, educators, researchers, and consumers of wheat
    
  • to provide links to other useful wheat sites on the worldwide web
    
    
• Plant Breeding Updates
  
  Plant breeding updates is an excellent web site dedicated to the science of plant breeding. It has an excellent glossary for those unfamiliar with plant breeding terms.
  
  
• Monsanto Company
  
  After a 97-year history of success, Monsanto has a new business focus: life sciences -- a start-up industry that addresses the food and health needs of a rapidly expanding world, while recognizing the importance of environmental sustainability.
  
  
• Pioneer Hi-Bred International,Inc.
  
  Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., is the premier global supplier of crop genetics for commercial agriculture.
  
  
• GrainGenes Webserver
  
  GrainGenes is a compilation of molecular and phenotypic information on wheat, barley, oats, rye, and sugarcane. The project is supported by the USDA/NAL Plant Genome Research Program and by the community of scientists who are providing the information and reasons to be interested in it.
  
  
• Plant and Soil Sceinces eLibrary
  
  Here are a few of our distance education modules. Several lessons are part of on-line distance education courses which can be taken for academic or professional credit through the NU Department of Agronomy and Horticulture. These courses include Crop Genetic Engineering and Herbicide Action in Plants. For further information on taking these and other of our distance education courses, contact Dr. Deana Namuth (dnamuth@unl.edu), distance education coordinator for the NU Department of Agronomy and Horticulture. The lessons in this library are available free on this site; however, there is a fee for those taking the quizzes for academic or professional credit (Continuing Education Units). Quizzes are available by password after registering for use.
  
  
• The World Bank Group
  
  The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development–known as the World Bank–makes loans to developing countries that have a minimum level of creditworthiness. The World Bank raises most of its money on the world's financial markets. The interest rate charged on its loans is now just over 6.5 percent, and the maturity period is 15 to 20 years. Over its 50+-year history, the World Bank has lent some $396 billion to developing countries and economic institutions.

LAST UPDATED April 3, 2008