By Robynne M. Anderson

APlANT Breeder WoN the Nobel Prize. They are capable of saving millions from starvation. It is the noblest of callings. But they are in very short supply.

It’s been a long time since the world has focused on agriculture, but the sharp spike in food prices a year ago drew attention back to the industry. What the seed business has yet to do is to seize that opportunity to make plant breeding thrilling again. At a time when people are going hungry in many parts of the world, it is important to re-engage a whole raft of socially-conscious young students in the promise, the excitement, the opportunity of plant breeding. This could truly be their contribution to solving world hunger.

The current generation of graduate students – “Gen Y’ers” – are much more motivated by social agendas and the desire to make a contribution to the larger good. Stemming from both a youthful idealism and public interest, there is a unique opportunity to re-attract people to plant breeding. Each

 

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company will need to woo students based on a combination of their corporate culture as well as their compensation package.

Public and private sector alike are eager to have a new group of plant breeders entering the science. The electronic skills, creativity and self starting capacity of this generation of students are assets worth recruiting to any industry – especially one dependent on genomics, ingenuity and information technology.

This new crop of students is also very comfortable with biology. After all, DNA is part of everyday language and a recurring theme in a dozen television crime shows.

Plus, they are used to new, empowering technologies. They have grown up in a world where they can start a social media campaign in minutes on Facebook. They can text to vote for the next American Idol as easily as voting for a President. Theirs is a world where “opinion leaders” can be any age and can have their say in the world from the comfort of their own laptop.

This is a brave new breed of talent that requires a fresh approach to recruiting and an even fresher approach to managing them once you land them. So court them on their own terms: don’t offer them a salary, offer them a chance to feed the world.

 

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