Pullman, Washington
June 26, 2008
The nearly $300 billion Farm Bill,
enacted by a second House and Senate override of President
George W. Bush’s veto this past week, will provide critical
funding for agricultural research in Washington state, said
Ralph Cavalieri, associate dean and director of the
Washington State University
Agricultural Research Center.
The bill includes more than $1.51 billion nationally in new
competitive research funding, according to Cavaleri, including
funding for research on specialty crops, organic agriculture,
bioenergy, agricultural and rural transportation and for the
National Clean Plant Network.
“Historically, the amount of federal funding available for
agricultural research as a percent of all research funding by
the government has been very small,” Cavalieri said. “This is a
very substantial and important increase.
“It is important to us and the state of Washington because so
many of our crops are specialty crops. Federal funding enables
us to address longer term issues of basic genetics, genomics,
sustainable cropping systems, high-risk research developing
value-added products, mechanization and automation that cannot
be funded by commodity commissions.
“We appreciate the support of members of Washington’s
Congressional delegation, particularly Sens. Patty Murray and
Maria Cantwell and Reps. Rick Larsen, Cathy McMorris Rodgers and
Doc Hastings for their work on the Farm Bill.”
Ken Casavant of WSU’s Transportation Research Group, who will
compete for transportation funding, said, “We are working with
North Dakota State and Texas A&M to build a consortium of
institutions with mutual concerns about the needs of agriculture
and rural transportation.”
“We have expertise in data and policy,” said Casavant, who is a
professor of economic sciences. “Texas A&M works a lot with
river and rail movement, which will help us when we look at our
barge and rail movement in our state, and North Dakota deals
with many of the same products we do and is trying to access the
same international markets.
“By working with these other states, we will be able to put
together a stronger research package to address such areas as
access to ports, state and federal policies that affect freight
capacity and mobility and new technologies that might aid
transportation.”
Funding for the National Clean Plant Network will create a
national system under the USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection
Service with fruit tree leadership and grape vine participation
for virus testing of horticultural crops at the WSU Prosser
Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center.
“Viruses and virus-like agents cause a variety of diseases in
perennial fruit crops, including fruit trees, nut trees and
grape vines,” said Cavalieri. “Once the plant material is in the
field, viral disease cannot be chemically controlled or
eliminated from plants. The best defense is to ensure that
viruses have been eliminated from plant stock before it is
planted.”
The National Clean Plant Network, in which the Prosser facility
will play a role, will provide pathogen-tested plant material
for fruit trees and grape vines. The network will test plant
material, eliminate viruses and ensure that plant material meets
state and federal regulatory guidelines.
The second override vote in the House and Senate was necessary
because of a clerical error. This time the Senate voted 80-14 to
bill after the House voted 317-109 vote to enact the
legislation. |
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