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Editorial Public funding for agricultural research benefits us all by Glenda Humiston, Vice President, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources I n February, President Obama proposed a budget for fiscal year 2017 that would double funding, to $700 million, for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), the nation’s premier competitive grant program for research in the agricultural sciences. Glenda Humiston benefit of $33 per additional public dollar invested in agricultural research here. There are countless concrete examples of how agri- culture in California is benefiting from publicly sup- ported research today. UC ANR Cooperative Extension research and out- reach has been instrumental in the development of I applaud this proposal. In recent decades, fed- drip irrigation, which is now used on approximately eral support for agricultural research has waned, 40% of irrigated cropland in California. A recent study even as key international competitors like Brazil and valued the benefit attributable to this research at be- China have increased their investments in this area tween $78 million and $283 million per year. dramatically. Publicly supported research is critical to the ongo- Agricultural research helps farmers compete in the ing management of invasive pests and diseases. One global market and meet food demand, and it is critical major current focus in California is huanglongbing to the continued growth of U.S. agricultural (HLB) disease. Spread by the Asian citrus psyllid, HLB productivity. It also addresses a host of has damaged 100,000 acres of Florida citrus since 2007. other issues: climate change, safe drinking In California, it has been found in residential citrus water, childhood obesity, the ecosystem trees but not yet in commercial orchards. In February, services provided by farmland, the invasive USDA awarded $20.1 million for research nationwide species that damage crops and spread dis- to fight the disease, including nearly $4 million to UC eases, and many more. Riverside, where researchers are working to develop Public support for research in these areas early detection methods and HLB-resistant rootstocks is essential and irreplaceable, and the avail- to help protect California’s $2.1 billion citrus industry. ability of competitive grant funding helps With California’s aquifers stressed after years to attract top young scientific talent to study of drought and subject to new rules for sustainable the full range of agricultural problems. management, UC ANR researchers are testing the use Private sector funding for agricultural of farm fields and orchards as percolation basins. It’s research also contributes to innovation a new approach to recharge depleted groundwater and progress — and now exceeds USDA research basins by capturing flows from rivers in winter, when spending. But business concerns tend to focus those water is often abundant. research dollars on a few large crops, mainly corn and This issue of California Agriculture illustrates the soybeans, and on applications likely to yield a near- range of issues that researchers are tackling — from term profit. sustainable water reuse for irrigation to managing That leaves a great deal of important pests with fewer pesticides to promoting nutrition and work reliant on public support — community gardens. These represent just a sample of particularly in California, with the ways that agricultural research continues to our extraordinarily diverse agri- contribute to the health, prosperity and security cultural sector. of California and the nation. c Agricultural re- search is also an excel- lent investment for our economy. One in 12 jobs in America is invested in linked to agriculture. agricultural Nationally, every ad- ditional dollar invested research in USDA research returns a benefit of roughly $20. In California, the gains in benefit to California are even greater, with an estimated 52 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE • VOLUME 70 , NUMBER 2