Funding/Investments
Mars Invests $5M in Agri-Science to Pursue the Perfect Peanut
Mars, Incorporated recently revealed its Protect the Peanut Plan, the company’s first program aimed at safeguarding the peanut against increasing pressures that threaten the reliability of global supply.
Mars has a goal of helping to stem the tide of crop losses that currently prevent up to 30% of peanuts from making it from pod to plate, costing farmers hundreds of millions of dollars and jeopardizing a source of protein for millions of families worldwide. Backed by a five-year, $5 million investment, the plan will fund techniques — powered by genomic science — to grow hardier peanut varieties that can stand up to pressure from pests, disease and unpredictable weather.
The multimillion-dollar commitment builds on more than a decade of Mars-funded peanut research, including approximately $10 million invested across a suite of scientific efforts, one of which is helping to crack the code on a botanical breakthrough that has eluded scientists for generations: mapping the peanut genome.
As a cofounder of the Peanut Genome Initiative, Mars helped map more than 2.5 billion base pairs of DNA — roughly equivalent to the human genome — and has shared the data as open-source science available to the entire industry. This effort has transformed the search for the perfect peanut from guesswork to genetic precision.
“We have long believed that Mars can play a unique role as an engine of innovation, which is why we’re thinking in generations and betting big on science to protect the peanut,” says Amanda Davies, chief R&D procurement and sustainability officer at Mars Snacking. “We know that the perfect peanut won’t be discovered by accident. It will take long-term investment, scientific ingenuity and the dedication of our incredible partners to keep turning potential into progress — from the greenhouse to the farmer’s field. After all, innovation without implementation is just imagination.”
The Protect the Peanut Plan is already yielding results. Peanut pioneers at the University of Georgia’s Wild Peanut Lab — a longtime Mars partner — have developed more resilient peanut varieties that can thrive in tough conditions, boosting yields by up to 30%. One such variety, Sempre Verde (“Forever Green”), is now being grown in Brazil and requires no fungicides.
“The cultivated peanut was a once-in-a-millennium accident of nature, but we can’t afford to wait for chance to strike twice,” says Dr. Soraya Bertioli, senior research scientist in the Department of Plant Pathology’s Institute of Plant Breeding for genetics and genomics at the University of Georgia. “Creating more resilient peanuts requires transformative science, discipline and partnership. Simply put: our breakthroughs would not be possible without the long-term support of Mars.”
Mars’ Protect the Peanut Plan is also backing work to:
- Cultivate drought- and disease-resistant peanut varieties, in partnership with the University of Georgia Tifton Campus, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology and the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
- Develop disease-resistant peanut varieties, in partnership with USDA ARS, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology and the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA)
- Use wild peanut species in Brazil to cultivate more resilient peanuts, in partnership with Instituto Agronômico de Campinas (IAC) and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA)
It’s all part of the company’s long-term commitment to the “Sustainable in a Generation” plan.
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