This grant supported construction of the $160 million Plant Sciences Initiative (PSI) building at North Carolina State University (NCSU). The facility allows academic, government, industry and cooperative extension experts to work together to solve some of agriculture’s most pressing challenges, from coping with changing climates to feeding a growing global population on a dwindling amount of farm land. The facility opened in 2021. The PSI positions North Carolina as a global leader for education, research and innovation in the plant sciences. Research conducted at the facility will help improve crop yields, introduce new crop and plant varieties and reduce animal feed costs. Having this facility in North Carolina provides a competitive advantage to our state’s farmers through training and educational programs associated with work at the PSI. The University received more than $6 million for the PSI building from 42 agricultural groups across the state and used $85 million from the Connect NC bond initiative for the project.
