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INVESTING IN RESEARCH 



million. The overall $SSO million program should 

 support the following four types of grants: 



1. About 800 principal investigator grants for an 

 average duration of 3 years. Total annual expenditure: 

 $250 million. 



2. About 180 fundamental multidisciplinary team 

 grants for an average duration of 4 years. Total annual 

 expenditure: $150 million. 



3. About60mission-linkedmultidiscipUnaryteam 

 grants for an average duration of 4 years. Total annual 

 expenditure: $100 million. 



4. Research-strengthening grants to institutions for 

 programs and to individuals for fellowships. Total 

 annual expenditure: $50 million. 



The expansion of USDA's competitive grants pro- 

 gram by $500 million from its current level of $50 

 million will enable USDA to significantly support the 

 innovative science that is poised to proceed — as soon 

 as funding can be obtained. 



Support with New Money 



SuppOTt of the competitive grants program with 

 new money will reverse the consequences of no R&D 

 growth in agriculture and sustain the state-federal 

 partnership. 



The publicly funded research system has not been 

 able to investigate many scientific questions compre- 

 hensively because fiscal constraints have allowed little, 

 if any, real growth in R&D expenditures. From 1955 

 through 1988, research funding for USDA remained 

 virtually stable in constant dollars, corrected for infla- 

 tion. The purchasing power actually decreased, and 

 higher costs are associated with the potent but costly 

 instruments and supplies required by today 's research- 

 ers. In 1988 USDA's total annual R&D funding was 

 only 4.6 percent of the total R&D funded by the federal 

 government, exclusive of the Department of Defense. 

 Unfortunately, the lack of growth in USDA's support 

 for R&D from 1955 through 1988 did not allow suffi- 

 cient advancement in scientific knowledge. The agri- 

 cultural sector cannot progress under the current level 

 of funding; it can only fall behind. 



The lack of real growth in R&D expenditures dur- 

 ing the past 30 years has slowed research within U.S. 

 agriculture and other areas of science. Opportunities 

 are missed, such as the relatively slow application of 

 biotechnology to agricultural issues; problems have 

 increased, such as the need for new uses for commodity 

 crops and for improved new crops for better nutrient 



composition and postharvest quality. At the same 

 lime, however, science and technology in other coun- 

 tries are advancing rapidly. Without a new infusion of 

 funds, there will be insufficient support for the tal- 

 ented researchers with new ideas that can refuel scien- 

 tific advancement in U.S. agriculture. Furthermore, 

 without new funding, prospective students and new 

 Ph.D. graduates will not be attracted to careers in 

 agriculture or retained in them. 



Most states support research at land-grant univer- 

 sities and state agricultural experiment stations 

 (SAESs) far in excess of the matching formula funds 

 they receive from the federal government A substan- 

 tial portion of this state support goes to research on 

 fundamental scientific problems of national impor- 

 tance. Increased federal supportfor competitive grants 

 will ease that burden and allow more of the state funds 

 to be used for problems speci fic to that state or region. 



Redirection of funds from intramural or formula- 

 based programs to competitive grants would be counter- 

 productive. The delivery system — SAES scientists 

 and extension specialists and advisers, in combination 

 with government and the private sector — is already 

 unduly stressed, and redirection would exacerbate 

 staffing insufficiencies for ARS, CES, and SAESs. 



The Central Role of USDA 



USDA is the federal agency responsible for ad- 

 vancing the agricultural sciences and developing tech- 

 nology applicable to food, fiber, and forest product 

 industries. It is the entity best suited to administer the 

 agricultural, food, and environmental competitive 

 grants program. 



The competitive grants program will warrant status 

 as an independent office within USDA's Office of 

 Science and Education, setting its administrator on a 

 par with the administrators of the Agricultural Re- 

 search Service, Cooperative State Research Service, 

 and Extension Service as the managers of USDA's 

 science, education, and training activities. As the 

 USDA competitive grants program grows from about 

 $50 million to $550 million in annual awards, changes 

 in administrative procedures and institutional rela- 

 tionships will be essential. 



Competitive Grants 



The competitive grant is the proven and appropri- 

 ate mechanism to stimulate new research in high- 

 priority areas of science and engineering. It is flexible, 

 reaches a large pool of talented scientists, and pro- 



