Land-grant universities have always relied on a variety of funding sources--both public and private--to support essential agricultural research programs. This support enables universities like Purdue to conduct scientific research, and in turn, to pave the way for improvements in the agricultural, food and natural resource systems.

Basic scientific research that takes place at our nation's universities differs from research in the private sectorits value is not determined by the "bottom line." By corporate R&D standards, such research often is not viewed as profitable because a financial payoff may be too far down the road, if it comes at all. But the basic scientific discoveries that occur in university research labs provide the foundation on which applied research in the private sector is built.

This year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will award $120 million for agricultural research through the Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems, a five-year program authorized by Congress in 1998. The Initiative is important for a number of reasons.

First, in an era in which federal funding has been declining, it is the first significant new money to be appropriated for agricultural research in 20 years. And second, it represents a shift to competitive grants.

The Initiative specifically targets research in areas identified by stakeholders as priorities, including:

• agricultural genomics and biotechnology
• food safety, nutrition and health
• new uses for agricultural products
• natural resource management
• farm efficiency and profitability

The Initiative also encourages multi-state, multi-institutional research teams, which combine intellectual and financial resources. This collaboration will allow for broader-based solutions while avoiding duplicate research on issues like animal waste and food safety, which are the same whether they occur in Iowa, Indiana or North Carolina.

We at Purdue Agriculture look forward to the opportunity to forge partnerships as we delve into these vital areas of research. In this issue of Agricultures, stories about the creation of biochips that will help scientists quickly identify beneficial biochemicals and about transgenic fish that could threaten wild stock are examples of federally funded, groundbreaking research that occurs at universities. This new era of competitive grants will launch a new era of cooperation as well.

Victor L. Lechtenberg
Dean of Agriculture