President Obama’s USDA budget for fiscal year 2011 was released early this week, and does not contain any request for the Integrated Research, Education, and Extension Competitive Grants Program (Section 406). This program, often abbreviated as “Section 406″, has been the funding source for several major IPM programs, including Regional IPM Centers, Crops at Risk (CAR), Risk Avoidance and Mitigation Program (RAMP), and the Methyl Bromide Transitions (MBT) program.
Regional IPM Centers have been funded since 2000 at almost $4 million annually (a little under $1 million per Center). Funding comes at the end of the fiscal year, so FY 2010 funds have not yet been distributed to the four IPM Centers and are expected to support existing Centers until September 2011.
Several times in recent years the President’s budget has included a proposal to move Section 406 out of it’s current place in the Plant and Animal Systems budget into the National Research Initiative (NRI). Each time in the past Congressional action resulted in restoration of Section 406 into its original funding area. The federal budget is not complete until Congress passes a bill that is signed by the President, so a lot can change. One of 3 potential outcomes seems likely, and two of them bode well for continued funding:
- Section 406 could be moved in some way into the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) budget. AFRI is the new name for NRI. I have been told – informally – that this is the plan at USDA.
- Section 406 could be restored to it’s original budget line.
- The programs currently funded by Section 406 could be eliminated from the Federal budget.
IPM programs represent a relative small part of Section 406 funds. Other programs funded under Section 406 include National Integrated Water Quality Program (NIWQP), Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP), and National Integrated Food Safety Initiative (NIFSI). The most recent enacted budget I can easily find shows FY 2009 enacted and the FY 2010 USDA request.
Filed under: Budget Tagged: | AFRI, Integrated Programs, IPM Centers, President's budget request, Section 406
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