Integrated Production Systems.  Modern cropping systems are complex and consist of highly integrated management components pertaining to crop protection, resource management, and mechanization that form the basis for U.S. agriculture.  Environmental priorities such as global climate change, ground water quality, and nutrient management, as well as food safety and quality, and impacts from invasive species, greatly influence production and profitability.  Pest control systems, cover crops, rotations, tillage systems, buffers and borders, and integration and coordination of inputs for single or multiple crops require optimization for future utility in production systems.  In addition, these elements must be combined in new ways to address the needs of small, intermediate, and large-scale farms, organic production, and production in controlled environments (e.g., greenhouses).  New and/or upgraded technology that enhances a sustainable and profitable environment for production agriculture is needed.  This new technology should address the need for lower-cost, higher efficiency inputs that foster conservation of energy and natural resources, while enhancing the environment surrounding agricultural enterprises.  New production systems are needed that focus on not only traditional crops, but also new crops; availability and implementation of improved models and decision aids; cropping systems that sustain productivity with lower-cost inputs; production methods that foster conservation of natural resources; efficient and integrated control strategies for multiple pests; improved methods, principles, and systems for irrigation; and reduced inputs while sustaining or increasing production.  These are high priority areas for ARS and its customers and will be a major focus for the Agency.

Agroengineering, Agrochemical, and Related Technologies.  Agricultural enterprises need new and improved technology that will improve productivity and protect the environment and worker safety and health.  To counter rising labor costs and a shrinking workforce production system, fruit, nuts, vegetable, and ornamental and horticultural enterprises need new knowledge, techniques, and mechanized equipment in order to remain competitive in a global marketplace.  Technology to ensure precise delivery of agrochemicals and bioproducts is essential to achieve the desired biological effect and to minimize adverse impacts on the environment, adjacent land areas, and worker health.  Another need in all phases of crop production is agriculture-specific sensors to provide information on which to base management decisions about such matters as application of inputs, optimum time for harvest, product storage and processing, as well as many others.  The demand for greenhouse-grown crops is increasing and with it, producers’ needs for research and information on problems not encountered in traditional field production.  Worker safety is another area of concern to U.S. agriculture;  technology is needed to increase productivity, while reducing agricultural worker exposure to risk of injury and illness.  These are also high priority areas for ARS.

Bees and Pollination.  Managed bees are vital to the pollination and subsequent production of more than 90 crops in U.S. agriculture. With an annual added value of more than $14 billion.  Thus, the health and viability of bee pollinators is vital to crop production in the United States.  The most versatile commercial pollinator is the honey bee, which also produces honey.  Two parasitic mites have devastated beekeeping operations, subsequently driving production costs higher and reducing the availability of honey bees for pollination.  Between 1993 and 1997, numbers of bee colonies and yield of honey per colony declined in the United States.  Managed bee colonies and their pollination activities can survive only if this trend is reversed.  A variety of native and non-native bee species could be used to enhance pollination efforts in specific crops and greenhouses if they could be produced effectively in large numbers and managed for health and availability.  For crops to be pollinated more effectively and to ensure the viability and profitability of pollination and honey production, pollination mechanisms must be better understood, bee management methods must be improved, and methods for cost-effective integrated management of bee pests and diseases must be forthcoming.  ARS will continue to address these issues in order to provide to its customers’ solutions to the bee industry’s problems.