Mars launches Protect the Peanut Plan with $5M

Mars, Incorporated is announcing the Mars Protect the Peanut Plan backed by a five-year, $5 million investment to fund genomic and agriscience research aimed at developing more resilient peanut varieties.

• Main action: Mars pledges $5 million over five years to the “Protect the Peanut Plan” to fund genomic science and advanced breeding for drought-, disease- and pest-resistant peanut varieties; this builds on ~$10 million of prior Mars-funded peanut research and the company’s role as a co-founder of the Peanut Genome Initiative (mapping >2.5 billion base pairs).
• Partners and implementation: The plan funds work with University of Georgia (Wild Peanut Lab and Tifton Campus), HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, USDA ARS, INTA, IAC and EMBRAPA to develop and deploy resilient varieties (example: the Sempre Verde variety being grown in Brazil, reported to boost yields by up to 30% and require no fungicides); timeline: five-year investment period starting with this announcement.