We have a number of very strong international collaborations with different countries and with International Agricultural Research Centers. Recently we have joined forces with Oklahoma State University and University of Nebraska, Lincoln, to create the Great Plains Cereals Biotechnology consortium. This concise mission statement embodies our commitment to research, education and extension. The tri-partite mission is rooted in our belief that sustainable increases in agricultural productivity depend upon healthy plants free of disease and the threat of disease outbreaks. Graduate teaching is an integral part of the research conducted in the Department.
Agriculture is key to the economic health of the State of Kansas.
Losses to diseases in the most important crop, wheat, have exceeded 20 percent in past years with similar, or worse, losses experienced by all crops. There are no other faculties in the State of Kansas that offer degrees in Plant Pathology. We offer programs in molecular plant-microbe interactions, the basic biology and genetics of both hosts and pathogens, the study and management of disease at field, population and ecosystem levels. Thus, not only is our expertise in the discipline unmatched throughout the State, our ability to offer courses and research programs in the pathological interaction between microbes and plants is unique, and is only rarely rivaled in the nation. Our department was recently rated as among the top five in the country by an outside review team with representatives from major institutions representing four different regions of the country.