The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) today presented a report on the importance of USDA’s leadership in agricultural research. The Council is a diverse group of individuals appointed by the President from across the basic and applied scientific community to advise the President and the Executive Office of the President on key scientific issues.
Report to the President on Agricultural Preparedness & the Agriculture Research Enterprise, by the Council, concludes that the United States is the undisputed world leader in agricultural production today, but also cautions that U.S. agriculture also faces a number of challenges that are poised to become much more serious in the years ahead.
There is no question that the report recognizes American agriculture and USDA’s leadership in agricultural science and research as critical to the efforts to ensure greater food security and a better future for everyone.
Here at USDA, Research, Education, and Economics Under Secretary Dr. Catherine Woteki oversees a team of world class scientists, economists, statisticians, and support staff working to solve some of the biggest challenges facing us all – a changing climate, uncertain energy sources, rising childhood obesity rates, food insecurity around the globe – and making sure our solutions are safe and sustainable.
This new report, by an independent council of Presidentially-appointed experts, prioritizes the top scientific challenges facing agriculture and offers recommendations on how best to meet those challenges in the years ahead, with an emphasis on current practices within research universities and the USDA. USDA will carefully review the recommendations.
The full report can be viewed here.