203 



Most of USDA's Cooperative State Research Service (CSRS) support is from formula funds 

 appropriated by acts of Congress. Special Research Grants consist mostly of line-item appropriations, 

 which also require oversight by CSRS. The coiiq>etiQve Research Grants Office holds national 

 conq>etitions for awarding basic research funds in specific fields. The National Research Initiative 

 (NRI) would enlarge the Grants Program, but the pace has been slower than prescribed by the National 

 Research Council. '° The NRI would also emphasize research on sustoinable agriculture, welcoming 

 proposals that are ". . . single or multidisciplinary, fundamental or mission-linked."" 



Congressional intervention in USDA's portfolio has been used to hasten the Department's 

 response to new research priorities. For example, in the 1980s USDA was slow to initiate research 

 that would reduce the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers in agricultural production. Congress 

 saw this as a lack of concern for environmental quality and sustainable agriculture. Through 

 earmarking of research fimds and legislative mandates, the Department addressed these emerging 

 priorities. 



USDA and Agri culniral Research Funding 



Today, USDA programs continue to coiiq>ete within a fixed envelope of resources. The 

 external environment provides less and less relief. OTA found that: 



Although total research funding for the State Agricultural Experiment Stations 

 (SA£S) has increased slightiy over the last decade, in general agricultural research 

 is underfunded. The States provide the majority of the funding for research at the 

 SAES, and through the 1980s, State support increased by 58 percent [see exhibit 

 S]. However, the recession of the early 1990s has constrained State budgets, 

 resulting in few increases and in some cases declining State support for agricultural 

 research. 



•O Philip H. Abelson, "Agricultural Research," Science, vol. 257, Aug. 28, 1992, p. 1187. 



" U.S. Depanment of Agriculture, Cooperative State Research Service, National Research Initiative 



Conqietitive Grants Program, "Program Descrqition: Guidelines for Proposal Preparation and Submission," 

 inqniblished documem, 1993. 



