Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the Executive Office of the President – National Plant Genome Initiative Progress Report, released October 2008.

“Plants contribute to worldwide economic sustainability and security, as sources of food, fiber, feed, and fuel. Improvements in agronomic practices and production have led to record agricultural productivity, with the three major U.S. crops of corn, soybean, and wheat alone valued at over $60 billion and exports of these valued at over $24 billion.

The significant gains in crop productivity parallel the scientific achievements of plant genomic research. Work supported through the NPGI leverages expertise from basic plant biology through information sciences to breeding, with resources and in-kind contributions from multiple Federal agencies. These activities provide fundamental knowledge about the genetic makeup of plants, which has led, and will continue to lead to new discoveries about the biology of plants of economic importance and plant processes of economic significance.

This report includes brief highlights of activities in the past year, illustrating rapid advances across the spectrum of NPGI activities, rather than an exhaustive summary of ongoing projects being funded, supported and coordinated by the NPGI member agencies.”