PUBLIC AFFAIRS

AFRI to Replace NRI

The National Research Initiative (NRI) will be replaced October 1, 2009, by the new Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) under the newly enacted Farm Bill. Farm Bill writers saw that there was no mandatory money for the Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems (IFAFS), so they included the IFAFS concept with the NRI programs under AFRI. This tends to continue the current practice—the NRI has already been funding a portion of the awards characterized as IFAFS.

The description of plant research priorities under the previous Farm Bill for the NRI was as follows: “Plant systems, including plant genome structure and function; molecular and cellular genetics and plant biotechnology; plant–pest interactions and biocontrol systems; crop plant response to environmental stresses; unproved nutrient qualities of plant products; and new food and industrial uses of plant products.”

These plant research priorities will continue under AFRI in the new Farm Bill. AFRI also includes a separate provision for conventional breeding in addition to the priorities for plant research. The natural resources research priority provisions are the same in AFRI as under the NRI. ASPB will support continuation of key plant research programs in AFRI that are now supported by the NRI.