Investing in Research A Proposal to Strengthen the Agricultural, Food, and Environmental System (1989) / Chapter Skim
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5 Program Areas and Scientific Opportunities
5 Program Areas and Scientific Opportunities
Pages 57-86
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From page 57... ...
Advances in endocrinology and reproductive biology have led to healthier and more productive livestock. Advances in electronics and materials science have yielded developments in agricultural engineering and food processing.
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From page 58... ...
Subsequent sections identify some examples of the research needs and opportunities for improving plant productivity. Genetics and Diversity The ability of plant breeders to breed crop plants and forest trees with specific desirable traits is enhanced by knowing the behavior of plant genes.
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. cone Tons Yield, crop quality, environmental quality Biological nitrogen fixation, yield, more efficient use of chemical pesticides, disease resistance Crop management, disease prevention, pest control Insect pest and pathogen control, genetic diversity Weed control, disease and pest control Operations research Modeling of farming systems, stochastic optimization for use in decision making aids Resource economics Assessment of environmental externalities, matching land use to soil and climate Production economics Economically optimum rates of input use
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From page 60... ...
Study of the similarities and differences between natural and managed ecosystems will reveal the relative importances of genetic diversity; He role of beneficial and pest organisms in plant productivity; and the long-term stability of fann, range, and forest ecosystems. Tropical ecosystems are of global concern.
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Plant Production Economics New developments in plant genetics, pest control, and agronomic practices are widely implemented and accepted only if they provide farmers a clear-cut economic advantage. Economic factors are a signifi cant component of plant productivity as global mar kets become more competitive and open.
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Their effects on production characteristics, behavior, and genetics should be assessed. Along with the traditional disciplines, new technologies such as those that use recombinant DNA and monoclonal antibodies now afford an opportunity to understand, detect, identify, and control many animal diseases.
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Much improved production economics models, data, and analytical methods will be essential, as will the ability to estimate the effects of changes in government policies. NUTRITION, FOOD QUALITY, AND HEALTH This program area encompasses all of the topics relating to human nutrition, food quality, and human health.
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64 INVESTING IN RESEARCH TABLE 53 Relationship between Scientific Areas and Practical Developments That Contribute to Optimal Nutrition, Safety, and Quality in Foods Scientific Areas Areas of Practical or Potential Application Microbial genetics Biotechnology of starter cultures and food ingredients, DNA probes Microbial physiology and Pathogen resistance, food fermentations, microbial control metabolism or inactivation, mechanisms of pathogenicity, food spoilage mecha nisms Immunology DNA probes and antibody assays for pathogen or toxin detection, food constituent analyses, food allergies Toxicology Control of microbial pathogens and toxins; detection, removal, or neutrali zation of chemical and microbial contaminants Analytical biochemistry Rapid and automated analyses, food constituent interactions, physical and chemical properties of foods Protein, carbohydrate, and Structure-function mechanisms related to texture, flavor and lipid chemistry color; changes due to microbial and chemical actions; influence of physical-chemical processes on primary structure-function Flavor chemistry Constituents influencing normal and abnormal flavor, human responses to flavor compounds, differentiation between natural and artificial flavors, flavor stability Physical chemistry Interface phenomena in gels and emulsions, kinetics of food component reactions, description of primary structure of food constituents Nutritional biochemistry Nutrient bioavailability, nutrient stability in food processes, mechanisms of nutrient utilization at the molecular and cellular levels Clinical nutrition Diet-related disorders, nutritional requirements in disease, eating disorders Epidemiology Disease-nutrient relationships in different populations, dietary practice and changing food habits Human physiology and Nutrient form-efficacy, nutrition and disease interactions, diet and metabolism exercise, maternal nutrition, malnutrition, food allergies, sensory perception in normal and disease states Pediatrics and geriatrics Lifelong, age-related nutrient needs, lactating women and their infants, nutrition and immune response Process engineering Simulation and optimization of unit operations, processes and plants, and control fluid flow, particulate transfer, extrusion Package design Robot technology, biodegradable packaging materials, tamper-proof packaging, quality maintenance Mass and heat transfer Simulation of steady- and unsteady-state, semicontinuous, and continuous unit operations; ultra-high-temperature-preserved or semipreserved products Equipment and Sensors and monitoring systems, real-time sensing of quality instrumentation design attributes, nondestructive on-line measurements Psychology Analysis and development of diet-relevant behaviors
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From page 65... ...
This combination of the nutritional and food sciences with advances in biology and medicine permits the establishment of multidisciplinary research teams to address the entire spectrum of needs and opportunities, ranging from long-term fundamental research (such as the molecular biology of fat metabolism and deposition) to more applied studies (such as the effects of food processing operations on nutrient availability and food digestibility in the gut)
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enterotoxins Wheat Galactose Nitrates Campylobacter spp. Escherichia cold Peanuts Gluten Monosodium Escherichia cold enterotoxins Soybean Broad beans glutamate Vibrio parahaemolyticus Verocytotoxins products (favism)
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The use of more recent biotechnology techniques, such as recombinant DNA technology, enzyme and protein engineering, plant and animal cell tissue culture, and biosensor applications, will contribute to the increased efficiency of production of special food and food ingredients, reduced production costs, enhanced nutritional value, improved processing characteristics, and safer and more convenient food products. A fundamental understanding of the structure, function, and regulation of genetic information at the molecular level is needed for plants, animals, and microorganisms important to the food supply in order to harness the potential benefits of biotechnology.
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Quality attributes range from nutntion to taste, convenience, appearance, and product safety. Research on food quality emphasizes an understanding of fundamental physical and chemical properties of food constituents that affect food flavor, texture, appearance, nutritional value, and other essential attributes.
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Table 5.5 contains a summary of relationships between scientific areas in natural resources stewardship and the environment and practical or potential applications, and the box "Natural Resources" describes the diversity of natural resources in the United States. Water Quality and Water Management Water quality can be impaired by a variety of agricultural and forestry practices.
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. engineering Landscape design Wood science and technology Meteorology and climatology Forest, agricultural, and resource economics Rural sociology Urban planning Range science Population biology Social ethics Measuration and biometry Atmospheric and climatic chances Methane cycle Pesticide volatilization Air pollutants and atmospheric depositions Forest, range, and farm productivity and efficiency, water yield and quality, ecosystem responses to stress Erosion control, groundwater contamination, plant water nutrient use, irrigation, tillage practices, salinization, nutrient use efficiency Water yield and quality, erosion control, waste disposal on forest and agricultural land Nutrient, water and energy use efficiency, air pollution impacts on crops and forests Quantification and maintenance of biodiversity habitat improvement for wildlife Waste disposal, irrigation practices, energy use, appropriate machinery, agricultural drainage Management of rural and small town communities, management of energy use Use of biomass as chemical and energy feed stocks Pesticide drift, dispersal of pollutants, forest fire management, drought management, irrigation practices, climatic change impacts on forests and rangelands Optimization of plant locations, analysis of cost of alternative management practices, labor and market analyses, assessment of environmental and social externalities Revitalization of rural and small town communities, recreation and tourism, maintaining aesthetic quality Maintaining parks and green ways, waste disposal and handling, land use planning, residential landscapes Carrying capacity, habitat quality, reproductive biology Weed control; biological diversity; convolution of hosts, pathogens, predators, and weeds; biotechnical improvement of forest and range plants Land and environmental ethics, social impacts of technological innovations, social services in rural communities Monitoring change in forest and other ecosystems, geographical information systems for national resources, remote sensing, computer mapping ~7 Control of agricultural methane production Integrated pest management Quality of natural and agricultural ecosystems Table 5.5 continues
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PROGRAM AREAS AND SCIENTIFIC OPPORTUNITIES TABLE 5.5 (Continued) 71 Scientific Areas Areas of Practical or Potential Application CO2 warming Global carbon and nitrogen budgets Modeling link of biosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere Regional climate modeling Quality and productivity of soils and land use Soil physical properties and quality Efficiency of nutrient utilization by plants and trees Pesticide fate in the environment Soil erosion Water quality and water management Hydrological cycle Lake and river fisheries Wetlands and wetland wildlife Transport and transformations Salinity and toxic trace minerals Irrigation systems Regional water budgets Forest, range, wildlife, and biological diversity Genetics and ecology Plant biomass production Urbanization Urban ecology Urban wastes and disposal Impact on agricultural and natural ecosystems Remote sensing Perturbations by agricultural practices Regional water management Land use, agricultural management Optimization of fertilizer application practices Groundwater quality transport in soils Soil and water conservation Quality of surface and groundwaters Surface water management practices Drainage management refuges Groundwater quality of water pollutants in soil sediment-water continuum Irrigation and drainage management in soils Agricultural water conservation and scheduling control of nonpoint source water pollutants Regional-scale water management Management of forests, rangelands, and biological diversity of wildlife habitats Alternative energy source Land use management of agricultural lands Land and water quality
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Regional water management practices can have a profound influence on agriculture, environmental quality, and water uses. For example, the diversion of the Truckee River in California for irrigation has heavily affected the depth and quality of Pyramid Lake in Nevada.
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More research on optimum irrigation management and reduced fertilizer and pesticide applications would alleviate the damaging effects of agricultural runoff on land and waterresources. Dischargeofanimalmanures,seconda~y treated municipal wastes, or food processing plant effluents into surface waters is of environmental concern and warrants renewed efforts in research and treatment technology, as does the effect of solid waste in landfills on surface and groundwater quality.
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soils are ideally suited for plant production, whereas INVESTING IN RESEARCH about 88 percent of the nation ' s cropland is affected by some unfavorable environmental limitation on plant productivity, primarily because of drought, soil shallowness, cold, and wet conditions. Moreover, these soil and environmental limitations can be made worse, or overcome, by human actions.
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From page 75... ...
Pesticides of all kinds have a major effect on biological diversity, and sometimes on overall genetic diversity; thus, their study and beneficent use are best considered in terms of ecosystem structure and function, along with the more organismspecific studies. Forests, Rangelands, and Wildlife Managing forests and rangelands for multiple uses and biological diversity is easy to mandate but difficult to achieve.
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Key problems, and therefore opportunities, lie in the areas of (1) water quality and water management, (2)
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Sensors Design engineering and management systems rely on adequate information about how a production process or system responds to its inputs. New transducer and sensor developments will allow measurements of a wide range of factors that influence the production and processing of food products, including moisture, chemical concentrations, pathogens, and particulate concentrations in facilities and storage structures.
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Major fields in which bioprocessing has already INVESTING IN RESEARCH proved valuable, and will certainly prove even more so in the future, are the production of alternative fuels from wastes and other biological materials; the decomposition of municipal, industrial, and agricultural and food processing wastes; food processing and engineering; and formulation of new products such as biodegradable plastics. Innovation in Equipment Manufacturing The continued success of U.S.
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From page 79... ...
Great progress has been made in recent years in developing useful new analytical tools and models to address questions of soil erosion and water conservation, product and market development, selection of desirable genetic traits in breeding programs, chemical and biological pest management, monitoring of crop diversity, mechanization in cultural practices, human health and safety, and many other issues that directly affect farmers and the nation. The effects of industrial and urban pollutants on the land, air, and water resources so important to forestry and agricultural production is a growing area of emphasis for engineers.
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· identifying thephysical, biotic, end environmental relationships between a farm's actual and optimal economic and environmental performances; · determining the effects on costs, and on the loca tion of agricultural production, of regulatory or incentive programs designed to reduce the environmental and health effects of the intensification of agricultural and industrial production; elucidating the economic effects that, for example, changes in global climate (resulting from the greenhouse effect) , acid deposition, and destruction of the ozone layer have on trends in the growth, location, and costs of agricultural production; · developing more and improved safety practices for the use of equipment and chemicals; developing further energy self-sufficiency for producing and processing industries; · identifying and developing the management and decision tools needed for optimum economic and environmental performance; and continuing to craft public policies that will bring economic and environmental goals into congruence with each other and, in particular, advancing the development and adoption of systems for natural resources conservation and low-input sustainable agriculture.
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Table S.8 summarizes the six major program areas proposed here, current USDA competitive grants program research areas, and the priorities identified by NARC. Table 5.9 lists the six major program areas proposed here, the major research objectives of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
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Stratospheric ozone (3.7) Plant genetic improvement, new uses's improved pest control, forest productivity,C and plants for urban environments Animal efficiency, new uses,C and animal health and disease Food quality enhancement and food, diet, and health Water quality and quantity, sustaining soil productivity, land use, range production, forest productivity's and ecosystem impacts of atmospheric deposition New uses,C energy efficiency, and advanced electronics and decision aids Integrating agricultural technologies, marketing, policy and global markets, and rural families and communities aAnother NARC priority area, biotechnology, encompasses plant productivity, plant disease resistance, nutritional quality of plants, biological control of pests, biologically active matenals, diagnostic and immunologic products, animal disease resistance, animal development and productivity, and impacts of biotechnology.
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Research and engineering applications of advanced electronics in robotics, quality control systems, diagnostic probes and sensors, and instrumentation; expert systems for TABLE 5.9 Proposed Competitive Grants Program Major Areas, ARS Major Program Areas, and ARS Funding, FY 1988 ARS Funding, FY 1988 Proposed (in millions of Areas ARS Program Area dollars) Plant systems Productivity and quality-crop 183.9 Animal systems Productivity and quality animal 182.3 Nutrition, food quality, Human health and well-being 42.0 and health Natural resources Natural resources- management 56.5 and environment Engineering, products, Agricultural products 88.9 and processes domestic and export Markets, trade, and None policK None Scientific knowledge systems 11.8 Total 565.4 Research in this area is undertaken by USDA's Economic Research Service.
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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BUDGET PRIORITIES The legislative and executive branches of the federal government face special difficulties in establishing priorities for allocating funds for research. Science and technology budget requests and recommendations are made on behalf of many different programs and agencies; some requests address mission agency needs, whereas others focus on advancing science in particular areas.
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Scientists and administrators from USDA mission agencies would likely participate in competitive grants program advisory committees, planning activities, and peer review panels; and agency scientists possibly in conjunction with academic colleagues and collaborators would compete for support through the program. Strengthening the Science and Technology Infrastructure The second category for policymakers to use in evaluating science and technology priorities is whether research has the potential to help strengthen the nation's technology base.
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The proposed expanded program involves a substantial increase in funding for agricultural, food, and environmental research, but it does not fit into this fourth category of science and technology activities because it is neither unusual nor distinct. WRESTING IN RESEARCH CONCLUSION An expanded USDA competitive grants program would provide a comprehensive and catalytic new mechanism for awarding federal support for science and technology activities relevant to agriculture (as it has been broadly defined in this proposal)
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