Illinois § 10

§ 10.

Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to put a solid foundation of stable and long-term, State support under the important public activity of food and agricultural research while improving accountability and gathering public input concerning that research. This should provide the institutional capacity and program continuity that are required to mount effective food and agriculture research programs and that cannot be achieved with short-term funding. It is the intent of this Act that: (1) Illinois should be among the top 10 agricultural states in State funding for its agricultural experiment station, and that other agricultural institutions in the State should be funded proportionately, according to the formula specified below. These funds shall enhance, rather than substitute for, current ongoing program support. (2) Research supported by this Act shall be clearly linked to practical food, agricultural, and related environmental objectives; fully integrated over the disciplines, functions, and activities required to achieve the intent of the General Assembly; coordinated with other, related food and agricultural research; and managed to minimize development time and cost and move results rapidly toward practical application. (3) Researchers and other program participants shall investigate both short and long term environmental, health, social, economic, and natural resource implications of products, practices, and systems proposed for use in food and agricultural enterprises. (4) This Act shall establish mechanisms by which publicly supported researchers and research administrators work closely with farmers, agribusiness, consumers, conservationists, environmentalists, health care providers, and key decision makers in the food and agricultural sector to identify problems and opportunities, formulate and prioritize research objectives, conduct research, and transfer the resulting information and technology. (5) A portion of the funds shall be used to support the necessary system of research facilities and programs needed to pilot test and scale up prototype food, agricultural, and related environmental technology and that these facilities and programs be accessible at cost to qualified persons from Illinois public and private universities and nonprofit organizations that need access to such facilities to conduct research on food, agricultural, and related environmental systems. (Source: P.A. 89-182, eff. 7-19-95.)