Means and Strategies: To successfully accomplish the research activities under this goal, ARS will need the level of human, fiscal, physical, and information resources portrayed in the budget estimates for fiscal years 2002 and 2003.

In FY 2002, ARS received $12,000,000 in budgeted program increases for biobased products and bioenergy.

The proposed funding in FY 2003 includes $9,000,000 in budgeted program increases for biobased products and bioenergy.

Verification and Validation: ARS currently conducts a series of review processes designed to ensure the relevance and quality of its research work and to maintain the highest possible standards for its scientists. A more detailed description of the evaluation plans can be found in the introduction of this plan.

OBJECTIVE 1.1: Strengthen competitiveness: "Enhance the competitiveness of the United States agriculture and food industry in an increasingly competitive world environment."

STRATEGY 1.1.1: Cost-effective agricultural production systems: Develop new knowledge and integrated technologies for more efficient and economically sustainable agricultural production systems of all sizes.

During FY 2002, ARS willquantify stress responses of cattle, swine, and poultry to specific management practices and to the entire production system.

During FY 2003, ARS will

develop technologies to enhance artificial insemination for the sheep industry.

develop selection methods to increase litter size in swine.

transfer to producers information for improving carcass quality in Brahman cattle.

have recommendations on weed control and fertility management for organic producers.

have information and recommendations on the performance of a number of management systems.

During FY 2003,ARS will

provide updates for the Crop Sequence Calculator and expand this decision aid•s capacity and capability.

develop four decision aids for peanut production and marketing, and a baseline for the optimal time path for resource allocation for small livestock/crop farms in Western Oregon.

STRATEGY 1.1.2: Preharvest and postharvest control of pests: Develop preharvest and postharvest technologies and processes to meet domestic needs and reduce or overcome nontariff trade and quarantine barriers caused by pests (insects, weeds, pathogens, etc.).

During FY 2002, ARS will

continue development of postharvest insect control methods for stored grain and other commodities to replace insecticides and methyl bromide that are being phased out because of environmental and health concerns.

develop environmentally friendly biopesticides and natural product-based pesticides.

develop and demonstrate postharvest insect control technology for use on stored commodities, in storage facilities, and food processing plants.

During FY 2003, ARS will

elucidate and manipulate internal mechanisms of resistance to reduce postharvest decay.

reduce postharvest losses and improve quality through resistant cultivars.

continue development of postharvest insect control methods for stored grain and other stored commodities to replace insecticides and methyl bromide being prohibited because of environmental and health concerns.

develop environmentally-friendly biopesticides and natural product-based pesticides.

develop and demonstrate postharvest insect control technology for use on stored commodities, storage facilities, and food processing plants.

During FY 2002, ARS will

develop and demonstrate new fumigants and other insect control technology to control quarantine pests of concern.

continue to develop alternatives to methyl bromide for weed management.

continue to screen biological control agents for the mitigation of witches broom (Crinipellis perniciosa) and frosty pod (Moniliopthora roreri) under greenhouse conditions and in overseas test plots.

initiate research to develop competitive endophytes for controlling black pod (Phytopthora spp.) in cocoa plantations in the Caribbean and West Africa.

continue research to identify, assay, and field trial control agents for coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) with emphasis upon both parasitoids and insect pathogens.

continue coffee berry borer field trials, including limited scale releases of control agents in Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, and Jamaica.

continue research to characterize and classify significant collections of cocoa (Theobroma cacao) in cooperation with European and South American collaborators using genetic mapping techniques, with a view to identifying important characteristics linked to disease resistance, quality, flavonoids, and postharvest stability.

continue research to express genetic markers for resistance to Crinipellis, Phytopthora, and Moniliopthora. Develop collaborative relationships with foreign collaborators to explore, breed, characterize, and introduce improved varietals in important genetic collections.

continue to develop the Tropical Agricultural Research Station in Puerto Rico as a hemispheric source for disease-free tree crop genetic material for transfer to alternative crop programs in the Americas.

initiate soil and water conservation research with relevance to integrated pest management and sound agricultural husbandry applications to tropical tree crops in the Americas.

continue a program of research and technology development and transfer to cooperating Federal and international organizations, to evaluate control methodologies involving integrated pest management directed to illicit cultivation of coca and opium in South America.

continue research and technology development in cooperation with U.S. land management and Federal enforcement agencies to identify, characterize, and control illicit cannabis grown in the U.S.

During FY 2003, ARS will

identify at least two candidate organisms available for field trial release and evaluation for the control of witches broom (Crinipellis perniciosa) and frosty pod (Monilopthora roreri), the major diseases of cocoa in Central and South America.

establish one scientist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Nigeria, in cooperation with U.S. cocoa trade associations and counterpart European research institutions, to evaluate and field trial candidate organisms for the control of black pod rot (Phytopthora megakarya), the principal disease problem for cocoa producers in West Africa.

conduct field trials on at least one pathogen with control potential for coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei), the most serious worldwide coffee pest in terms of total coffee crop, in cooperation with the Colombian Coffee Federation and its research arm, Centro de Investigation de Caf• (CENICAFE).

establish field trials of selected clonal cocoa materials to screen for resistance to Crinipellis and Monilopthora in Latin American countries, leading to a directed breeding program for cocoa with the goal of establishing disease tolerance.

establish spray technology suitable for delivering both chemical and biological control agents for cocoa and coffee pests, and complete technology transfer to recipient foreign institutions.

continue to develop alternatives to methyl bromide for weed management.

develop and demonstrate new fumigants and other insect control technology to control pests of quarantine concern.

During FY 2002,ARSwill commercialize a detection kit for detection 3 methylisoborneol.

During FY 2003,ARS will

develop a spatial Geographic Information Systems (GIS) map association between larval habitats of biting midges and the vesicular stomatitis virus.

continue to test decision-making algorithms using a GIS-based system based upon laboratory foraging studies, field mapping of termite distributions, and environmental factors.

transfer GIS and surveillance and detection technology to the Binational USDA-APHIS Screwworm Eradication Program.

continue to document progress in surveys of both horn fly and tick populations for pesticide resistance-associated mutations in both the sodium channel and acetylcholinesterase (ACHE), and conduct analysis of the fitness of resistant ticks and horn flies.

continue to transfer technology potentially leading to development of an easy-to-use, field-ready identification kit using monoclonal antibodies in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to distinguish screwworms from other wound inhabiting flies.

develop improved detection and identification tests for plant pathogens in commodities, seeds, and other plant products.

develop/transfer technology for detecting the presence of pathogen spores and inoculum.

STRATEGY 1.1.3: Measurement of product quality and marketability: Improve quality, uniformity, value, and marketability of commodities and other agricultural products.

During FY 2002, ARS will provide knowledge and technology to expand and improve grading systems.

During FY 2003, ARS will provide knowledge and technology to expand and improve grading systems.

During FY 2002, ARS will demonstrate methods to measure critical processing and end-use properties of agricultural commodities important to the agricultural marketing and processing systems.

During FY 2003, ARS will demonstrate methods to measure critical processing and end-use properties of agricultural commodities important to the marketing and processing systems.

STRATEGY 1.1.4: International technology interchange: Develop a strategy for selective international research interchange to supplement ARS technology developments and strengthen competitiveness of U.S. agriculture.

During FY 2002, ARS will

coordinate research results from scientists at ARS locations and selected international agricultural research centers of the CGIAR.

participate in long-term cooperative research and development projects involving the World Bank, the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and client countries.

participate in World Bank/GEF identification missions to Kazakhstan and Jordan.

develop formal agreements with international research institutions of excellence to address agricultural problems of mutual interest.

with funding from the Department of State Freedom Support Act, engage former Soviet biological weapons (BW) scientists to redirect their efforts to peaceful, agricultural research and help reduce the risk of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

During FY 2003, ARS will

provide mutual exchange and cooperative development of Lotus spp. germplasms by INIA (Uruguay) and ARS for the co-development of rhizomatous lines with suitable winter-hardiness for adaptation in both countries.

OBJECTIVE 1.2: Develop new uses and products: "Develop new uses and new products for agricultural commodities, such as alternative fuels, and develop new crops."

STRATEGY 1.2.1: New and alternative crops: Develop new and alternative crops with economic and social value.

During FY 2003,ARS will develop new fruit, vegetable, nut, and ornamental germplasm with competitive enhancements (yield, pest resistance, quality) for producers while providing exciting new market choices for consumers.

During FY 2002, ARS will

continue to develop strategies for protecting and using insect pollinators to increase crop production.

develop integrated cropping, harvesting, and postharvest handling systems.

During FY 2003, ARS will

continue to develop strategies for protecting and using insect pollinators to increase crop production.

improve technology to reduce spray drift while providing effective spray distribution in tree canopies.

develop integrated cropping, harvesting, and postharvest handling systems.

STRATEGY 1.2.2: New uses and products: Develop new food and nonfood uses and products from plants and animals, and new processes and other technologies that add value.

During FY 2002, ARS will

experimentally demonstrate improvements in processing technologies and develop new bioproducts and uses that have potential to increase demand for agricultural commodities.

increase ethanol yield by partial saccharification of corn fiber by use of new organisms which ferment pentoses, or do not produce succinate, or ferment xylose without glucose repression.

In FY 2002, ARS received an increase of

During FY 2003, ARS will

experimentally demonstrate improvements in processing technologies, and develop new bioproducts and uses that have potential to increase demand for agricultural commodities.

develop new enzymes, by use of molecular evolution, to reduce the costs and energy use for producing bioethanol.

scale up enzymatic production of sugars from corn fiber for fermentation to ethanol and higher-value co-products by recombinant organisms.

identify specific enzymes that can best serve to replace sulfites for steeping corn.

complete a cost analysis of a plant producing ethanol from both corn starch and corn stover.

In FY 2003, ARS is requesting an increase of