USDA Task Force Announces Recommendations to Promote Agriculture Research
posted on 8/5/2004 10:58:23 AM

Urging that its recommendations be implemented without delay, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Research, Education and Economics Task Force released its proposal for the formation of an institute of agriculture, modeled after the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

In its recently released report, the Task Force outlines the formation and structure of a National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), which if created, is envisioned to become the centerpiece of the USDA's efforts to support agricultural research.

Such an Institute, while housed in D.C., would be kept "separate" and "managed differently" from existing USDA programs and entities to ensure the development of "its own culture and establish its own methods of operation".

Headed by a Director appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, the Institute’s mission would be to “supplement and enhance” research currently funded by USDA. Among some of the key measures anticipated by the Task Force for NIFA to pursue are:

· Increase the international competitiveness of American agriculture;
· Develop foods that improve health and combat obesity;
· Create new and more useful products from plants and animals; and
· Improve food safety and food security by protecting American plants and animals from insects, diseases, and the threat of bioterrorism.

The Task Force tenders these criteria, along with several others, as guidelines to promote research that is both of the "highest scientific caliber" and "relevant to national needs and priorities".

To fund such projects, the Task Force has conceptualized NIFA to be a "grant-making agency", funding scientific research that is approved and evaluated by two advisory groups envisioned as such:

· Committees of Scientists who apply rigorous merit review to all grant proposals;
· A standing Council of Advisers to assure the relevance and importance of the science NIFA funds.

With an annual budget that is suggested to grow to $1 billion over a five-year period, NIFA would be expected to develop "its own culture of scientific excellence and innovation".

The 2002 Farm Bill, signed by President Bush last May, created the Task Force to conduct a review of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and to evaluate the merits of establishing one or more National Institutes focused on disciplines important to the progress of food and agricultural science. Secretary Ann Veneman made appointments to the Task Force on Jan. 21, 2003, at the request of Congress. The Task Force met four times: July 31, 2003; Oct. 27, 2003; Jan. 28, 2004, and April 20, 2004. The members studied past reports and information from the USDA, NSF, NIH and other sources.


posted by anonymous

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