The need for robust, FAIR phenomic databases supporting agricultural efficiency and resiliency

Abstract

The US agriculture and food systems research and education system remains the envy of the world, and the US Department of Agriculture and the Land-Grant University system lead the public and private partnerships that have improved agricultural productivity and human health phenomenally for over 160 years. The continuation of these improvements relies on equitable access to trustworthy data—particularly in genetics and phenomics—and the ability to leverage such data to address future scientific challenges. In this article, we discuss the growing need in agriculture for phenomic databases that follow findable, accessible, interoperable, and reproducible data (FAIR) guidelines, as well as the need for public policy supporting a sustainable funding model for these databases.