A new national initiative to boost federal funding for agricultural research should emphasize agriculture's vital role in promoting health, maintaining global stability and protecting the environment, suggests a task force chaired by Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef of the University of California, Davis. An ad hoc committee of 29 university leaders prepared the "Century III Challenges" report for the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. The committee was charged with developing a case for elevating national awareness of agricultural science and increasing federal support for agricultural research. "Funding for agricultural research, cooperative extension and education has not, by any measure, kept pace with funding for health research and development," the report stated. "In fact over the last 10 years, the National Institutes of Health budget for health research has increased by over 50 percent, compared to a steady-state research budget, at best, for agriculture." The report authors compared research funding for agriculture and health, noting that both fields cover a broad range of academic disciplines, including basic and applied studies, and both are key to improving daily life. Despite these similarities, the general public and Congress seem to have lost interest in adequately funding agricultural research, while funding for medical research has increased in priority, they suggested. "I think the greatest difficulty is in the apparent lack of need for research in agriculture," said Vanderhoef. "People in decision-making roles regarding research support don't worry much these days about where their next meal is coming from. On the other hand, we all regularly come in contact with health problems that persist in our society. "Consequently, the further away we have gotten from concern about our food supply, the more we have concentrated on other problems such as maintaining good health, neutralizing viruses and preventing developmental abnormalities in children." Agriculture, however, is more closely intertwined with health care than it might appear at first glance, pointed out Vanderhoef and the report's co-authors. As the health-care industry transitions from an emphasis on "treating disease to maintaining wellness," agriculture's role in providing safe food and enhanced nutrition grows in significance. For example, agricultural researchers study the importance of nutrition and diet to child development and the role that certain foods play in preventing diseases such as cancer and heart disease. The report also noted that agricultural research plays a critical role in maintaining global stability. With 50 percent of the world's population suffering from "some form of malnutrition," it is vital that agricultural research remain focused on alleviating food shortages and related political instability," the authors suggested. "In most developing countries, the maintenance of a consistent food supply is the single most important factor in preventing political unrest," Vanderhoef said. "By not spending money on agricultural research related to developing countries, we are costing ourselves a great deal more in resources in the long run." And finally, agricultural research, which has long probed the interactions of the living world, can add to the storehouse of knowledge on which sound environmental policy can be based, the report suggested. "Agriculture should expand its contributions toward enhancement of the environment and quality of life beyond providing food and fiber," the authors said. They suggested that agricultural research can maintain open space while creating jobs, reduce agricultural pollutants, enhance the visual environment, and provide the habitat necessary to maintain a healthy diversity among plant and animal species. Continued stagnation in federal funding for the nation's agricultural research enterprise translates into tremendous "lost opportunity" for society as a whole, according to Vanderhoef. Whether the goal is to promote health, global peace or a sound environment, the United States would be better off investing a relatively small additional amount in agricultural research, teaching and public service and thus reducing the ultimate costs of treating disease, resolving international conflicts and repairing environmental damage, he and fellow report authors urged. Noncompetitive, formula-based funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture form a significant part of the agricultural research infrastructure at the country's land-grant universities, but the institutions also receive grants from a variety of competitive grant programs run by the USDA. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture currently supports initiatives dealing with climate-change technology and with future agriculture and food systems, as well as a general National Research Initiative program. Grants for all three programs are allocated to researchers on a competitive basis. The report suggested that a new federal initiative be developed that would capture public interest and congressional support in the form of increased federal research funding for competitive, peer reviewed agricultural research. In response to the report by Vanderhoef and colleagues, the National Association for State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges plans to lay the groundwork for developing the suggested new initiative. "I strongly applaud the fine, well-reasoned report put together by Larry Vanderhoef and the other members of the ad hoc committee," said Peter McGrath, president of the association. "The initiative they outline will be a major priority of this organization. The NASULGC board of directors and I personally will push hard to bring about the changes needed."