Summit Conclusions and Policy Recommendations to Reinvigorate Public Plant and Animal Breeding Key Policy Recommendations: Capacity - The Congress and/or USDA should: •
Appropriate funds to at least double the U.S. and CGIAR long-term capacity for publicly held plant and animal breeding programs over the next 5 years to meet the needs of 21st Century Agriculture. Substantial increases in public breeding funding will be critical if USDA is to meet the complex needs of American farmers and international and specialty markets, to increase environmental and financial sustainability, and to help fulfill the U.S. commitment to world food security. Special focus should be placed on programs that build meaningful farmer/breeder collaboration and emphasize both horizontal and vertical breeding for sustainable systems.
•
Increase capacity to breed improved cultivars and breeds of both minor and regionally adapted major crops and livestock breeds as keys to a more diversified and secure food system.
•
Ensure that the newly created Conservation Security Program (CSP) provides incentives and conservation practice recognition to farmers for the on-farm practices of seed saving, preservation, selection and plant and animal breeding activities, which can contribute increased biodiversity, longer and more diverse cropping systems and can contribute to richer wildlife habitats.
•
Ensure that dedicated funding streams are created and specifically stated in the RFA for public plant and animal breeding research in all National Research Initiatives (NRI) and other USDA research programs.
Increase farmer participation in public plant and animal breeding: •
USDA should establish incentive programs for farmers and farmer associations to participate in testing, selection, seed increase, and evaluation of plant varieties now housed in germplasm repositories.
•
The National Genetic Resource Advisory Committee (NGRAC) should be reactivated and be re-composed of broad-based stakeholder representatives with demonstrated experience and/or expertise in genetic resource conversation. A central focus of this committee’s work should be to facilitate a comprehensive external review of the US germplasm collection, and its preservation status and also to recommend strategies for re-invigorating US publicly held participatory plant and animal breeding initiatives to make greater use of those resources.
171