FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Last week, the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences hosted informational meetings with representatives of the U.S.-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund. The sessions focused on collaborative efforts to address agricultural challenges of the future and potential grant opportunities to fund the research.

Visitors included Menahem Hesse, the minister for agriculture and science affairs at the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C.; Edo Chalutz, the executive director of the United States-Israel BARD Fund; and Cynthia Edwards, deputy secretary of the Arkansas Agriculture Department. They met with administrators, professors and scientists from the Bumpers College as well as other units on campus.

BARD Fund is a competitive funding program for research of agricultural issues conducted jointly by U.S. and Israeli scientists. The U.S.-Israel BARD Fund and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) signed a memorandum of understanding to promote collaboration between U.S. and Israeli scientists.

BARD has evaluated 4,600 total proposals, and funded 1,200 projects with more than $300 million. Ninety-two proposals were submitted in 2015 with 23 supported. So far, 106 proposals have been submitted for 2016. Since the program began in 2007, two projects in Arkansas have been funded.

Current research priorities are agricultural production under dry climates; protection against biotic and abiotic stresses of plants and animals; water quality and quantity; food quality, safety and security; functional genomics and proteomics; sensor and robotics technologies; and bio-energy systems.

Criteria for selection include scientific and technological merit, feasibility of objectives, anticipated benefits to agriculture and/or the environment in both countries, and appropriate collaborative arrangements.

Anyone interested in pursuing a proposal can contact Bumpers College Assistant Dean Leslie Edgar at 479-575-6770 or ledgar@uark.edu.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.