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Agricultural Research Initiative (ARI)
The California State University Agricultural Research Initiative (ARI) leverages public funding with university and industry capital to find solutions for priority issues challenging California agriculture, the environment, and consumer health and safety. ARI also helps train California’s agricultural and agribusiness workforce for the high-skilled jobs of tomorrow.
The ARI is a diversified applied agricultural and environmental sciences research consortium between the California Agricultural Technology Institute (CATI) and the four CSU campuses with colleges of agriculture: CSU Fresno; Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; Cal Poly Pomona; and CSU Chico. In addition to member campus collaborations, the ARI encourages and facilitates strong CSU research partnerships with other qualified university and professional research organization faculty and scientists, such as those from the University of California (UC), the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE), and the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
ARI research, outreach, education, and technology transfer activities augment, enhance, and extend basic research conducted by the nation’s land grant universities and improve the economic efficiency, profitability, and sustainability of California agriculture and its allied industries. ARI faculty and research scientists explore promising concepts in the agricultural and environmental sciences and technology that:
- result in immediate and practical solutions for high priority challenges confronting California’s agricultural industries;
- lead to consumer-sensitive and environmentally sound food and agricultural systems;
- foster public confidence in food safety and agricultural research and production systems;
- promote regional and statewide economic development;
- enhance faculty and student “real life” learning opportunities;
- produce easily replicated and transferable results and models.
ARI research covers a vast spectrum, including such topics as:
- Air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, carbon sequestering, and climate change;
- Water quality, conservation, storage, and conveyance technologies;
- Food safety and security practices and technologies;
- Energy efficiencies and alternative energy/fuel technologies and production;
- Environmental infrastructure improvement and restoration;
- Insect and plant invasive species prevention and eradication; and
- Associated public health and safety priorities.
ARI makes its results widely available in the public domain and provides for technology transfer assistance and information dissemination directly to producers, processors, and consumers who need it most. The resulting benefits of these research outcomes include improvements in public health and safety, environmental conditions, regional economic development, and global competitiveness.
The ARI receives a $4 million annual California State General Fund Budget allocation for applied research and outreach activities. This public funding, matched annually at least one-to-one with industry and/or agency resources, is distributed by ARI to fund scientifically peer-reviewed high priority research, development, and technology transfer activities, as well as public industry education and outreach. The ARI also actively solicits and competes for additional base funding, which also must be externally matched, through competitive and non-competitive master grant funding opportunities. In 2007-2008, with a budget of approximately $10 million including matching funds (less than $1 million of which was federal), ARI funded 84 projects covering such diverse matters as Eco-Friendly Water Use Systems, which will significantly benefit the fruit processing industry as well as the environment; Biological Control of Invasive Pests, to improve rice production in the Central Valley while reducing chemical use; Use of Crops to Create Biofuels while Reducing Harmful Soil Chemicals; and The Study and Improvement of Agricultural Air Quality, to reduce ammonia emissions due to the use of fertilizers and dairy production. ARI funding allocations are expressly designed to encourage CSU system and individual campus excellence in applied agricultural research and technology transfer through a combination of competitive research and capacity building enhancements.
The CSU colleges of agriculture, individually and collectively, lack sufficient research and capacity building funding to fully address the state’s increasing demand for new and innovative CSU applied agricultural and environmental research, development, education and outreach, and technology transfer activities. The funding CSU is requesting ($7 million from the Agriculture/CSREES account) will enable the ARI to match and extend (including by capitalizing more fully on the resources of Humboldt State University and CSU Monterey Bay) the present and future investment in applied agricultural and environmental research committed to by the California agricultural and natural resources industries, the CSU, and the state of California.
Additional information: California State University Agriculture Research Initiative
Jim Gelb, Assistant Vice Chancellor
CSU Office of Federal Relations
(202) 434-8060
Joe A. Bezerra, ARI Executive Director
California State University, Fresno
(559) 278-2361 |
