Research Planning and Control in the United States Department of Agriculture: The Experience of an Old and Well-established Research Agency

Abstract

Our publicly supported agricultural research has been a joint responsibility of the Department of Agriculture and the state land-grant colleges since 1862. Methods evolved for its planning and control are based on voluntary co-operation be tween the states and Department agencies, with assistance from farmers, industry, and other groups. This system, nearly as com plex and diverse as agriculture itself, has been very successful. Today it involves some 13,000 scientists at hundreds of loca tions throughout the country. It is financed by nearly $238 million in public funds, about half from the states and half from the federal government. The work concerns all phases of pro duction, marketing, utilization, and consumption of farm and forest products. It is organized generally around specific prob lems and includes about 14,700 projects. However, more than a fifth of the federal funds support basic studies. Advisory committees, composed of members who represent users of re search results, aid extensively in planning. Control procedures, including thorough project review and co-ordination, permit a well-integrated and dynamic program. In the administration of this research, encouragement of creative contributions by individual scientists is a prime consideration.