Setting agricultural science strategy in tumultuous economic times

Abstract

T international competitiveness and prosperity of U.S. agriculture depends on steady and rapid productivity growth fueled by public agricultural research and develop­ ment (RD food has become much cheaper over time in spite of a rapidly growing world population with rising per capita incomes. In the future, con­ tinuing productivity growth will be necessary to meet the challenges of ever-increasing demand for food along with mounting pressures on the natural resource base, exacerbated by new demands for biofuels crops. Long-term and sustained growth in productivity is mainly the result of technological innovations adopted by farmers. Some develop through tinkering and trial and error on farms, but the greater share of agricultural innovations can be traced to organized, scientific and industrial RD but a slower rate of growth in total spending and the drift of research emphasis will result in slower rates of farm productivity growth and a decline in global competitiveness of U.S. agriculture. Early warning signs of these trends are already apparent, but the full consequences of shifts of research support will not be immediately obvious. Successful agricultural research