STARKVILLE, Miss. (WTVA) -- Dr. David Peebles and Bayo Sokale prepare to inject eggs with a vaccine. It is within the walls of a poultry science building where this technique is expected to have a global impact.
"It makes the injection process more efficient. It's all very cost efficient, reduces labor costs and also allows for the use of less material that can be delivered to each bird," Dr. Peebles said.
Sokale, a native of Nigeria, plans to take what he has learned to one day serve his country.
"It's an opportunity for me to learn all the things I have here and to be able to expand the industry back in Nigeria," Sokale said.
His plan to share this idea is precisely what university officials have hoped and planned for as they strive to address food safety and security within and well beyond the United States.
"Our ability to produce more with what we have is going to be a result of science-based research which is what we're good at at this land-grant university at Mississippi State and we're committed to that (and) to help solve this global problem which will also benefit American farmers and American businesses as well," MSU President Mark Keenum said.
Keenum says it's key to reflect on what they have been doing and the challenges they will have to meet for the future.
Those are just two reasons for holding a conference dedicated to global food safety and security for the future.
"Agriculture and protecting our agriculture commodities and dealing with hunger head-on has got to be the most important aspect for global security. If we have a safer food supply and we're able to meet the needs of a growing population and feed that population, it leads to global security," Agricultural Economics Scientist Dr. Ashli Brown said.
For those reasons, she works to identify a fungus that can affect food in the form of toxins.
Not far away on this campus, more research is underway that will have a global impact-water quality.
"If we can figure that out and we are figuring that out at Mississippi State, the globe is our oyster because they are going to utilize our information and just for the benefit of agriculture from a global perspective," Aquatic Systems Management Assistant Professor Robert Kroger said.
Keenum says intellectual power will be the key to finding ways to feed a world population expected to grow two billion people by the year 2050.
