Since its inception, BARD has funded more than 800 projects that have led to new technologies in drip irrigation, pesticides, fish farming, livestock, poultry, disease control and farm equipment. The University of Missouri and Washington University have shared in grants worth nearly half a million dollars since 1987. The University of Missouri's Donald Spiers is interested in a hormone that stimulates growth and milk production in cows. The eventual application may be the development of an artificial hormone with limited side effects that will help the dairy industry by allowing cows to more efficiently convert food to muscle or milk. One of the advantages to the collaboration, Spiers said, was to combine his expertise in physiology with the Israelis' in molecular biology.
Biological insecticides are a safe and effective alternative to chemical agents.
One problem is that a bacteria that kills caterpillars and other insects is sensitive to ultraviolet light and often becomes ineffective in the field. Carlo Ignoffo of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Bio-Control Research Lab in Columbia, and a Hebrew University scientist have developed and tested a dye that absorbs and reflects the ultraviolet light to protect and stabilize the bacteria. According to Ignoffo, the research could lead to important advances in the use of biological insecticides. In another project designed to reduce expensive pesticide use and develop more resistant plants, a University of Missouri-Hebrew University team has been examining the biochemical ways in which tomatoes resistant to bacterial leaf spot disease differ from susceptible ones. Missouri also benefits from BARD research done elsewhere.