The benefits accrue to the United States, to Israel and to both countries together. Agriculture Benefits Genetically improved farmed fish, advanced technology in cotton crops, and lean chickens are just a few examples of the joint research projects conducted by Alabama and Israeli scientists under the auspices of the Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund. BARD was created in 1978 with equal contributions by the United States and Israel. Since its inception, BARD has funded more than 800 projects in 41 states. In 1998, it funded 19 U.S. institutions in 13 states.
New projects promote increased quantity and improved quality of agricultural produce.
Professor Rex Dunham of the Department of Fisheries at Auburn University has been an unofficial collaborator with Israel since 1968 and has received several BARD grants since 1979. Dunham has been extremely successful in his study of aquaculture genetics. The goal behind his project is to grow fish, such as catfish, carp and Tilapia, faster to get them to market quicker. By studying selective breeding, growth rates have increased by about 50 percent. Neal Smitherman initiated the fish genetics program at Auburn and because Israelis are the fathers of the field, and among the few aquaculture geneticists, they were obvious partners.