More than three decades of agricultural research by California public universities has yielded an enormous payback for the state's economy, benefiting both industry and consumers, according to a recently released report by the UC Agricultural Issues Center headquartered at UC Davis. Tracing the payback on agricultural research from 1949 to 1985, the report finds that the return from public investment in UC agricultural research was approximately 20 percent per year. During that 36-year period, California became the nation's leading agricultural state as its farm production tripled. although the amount of labor, land, equipment and chemicals used increased by only 60 percent. Publicly-funded research innovations pumped billions of dollars each year into the state's economy, helping to spawn new industries, keep food prices down, improve food quality and reduce pesticide use. The study highlights research successes related to dairy, strawberry and grape production and the use of integrated pest management techniques to control insects with a minimum amount of chemicals.